


7 Minutes In Heaven | Lashton

by xdistorted_cliffordx



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, 5SOS - Freeform, Ashton Irwin - Freeform, Calum Hood - Freeform, Cute, Gay, Jock Ashton, Lashton - Freeform, Luke Hemmings & Calum Hood Friendship, Luke Hemmings - Freeform, Luke Hemmings / Ashton Irwin hate each other, M/M, Michael Clifford & Ashton Irwin Friendship, Michael Clifford & Calum Hood Friendship, Michael Clifford & Luke Hemmings Friendship, Michael Clifford - Freeform, Nerd Calum, Nerd Luke, Niall Horan - Freeform, Opposites, Party Games, Ricky Dillon - Freeform, Top!Luke, bottom!Ashton, hemwin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 23:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 54,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5473832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xdistorted_cliffordx/pseuds/xdistorted_cliffordx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Who wants to play?"</p>
<p>Ashton is a very dedicated party-goer, being at one each weekend. It's literally his life, he thinks. Though, when he's invited to one particular party, they decide to change it up a bit and play party games after a few hours and everyone is well buzzed. Ashton's never been big into party games, but he figures why not? They're rated R games, so they're bound to be fun. </p>
<p>Luke hates parties. He hates spending his free time socializing, period. He would rather spend a Saturday night on the couch, watching Criminal Minds and stuffing his face with pizza. But one night, his friend forces him to go to a party. Obviously, he hates it, especially when the party games come out. He's forced to play them and he doesn't really like anyone he's going to have to play against. Luke just wants to go home before all this supposed 'fun' starts.</p>
<p>Little do both boys know, that one certain game is going to bring them both together and may even change Luke's usual routine of not partying or Ashton's obsession with partying. </p>
<p>Copyright 2015, Brianna (1D_HarryStyles_1D) All rights reserved</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is on my Wattpad as well (1D_HarryStyles_1D). There's a Character Ask/Answers and images that go along with the story, so if you'd like to check that out, head over to Wattpad then as well.  
> This story doesn't have any smut, but Luke will be the dominant in this relationship.  
> Please don't hate heavily on any characters (except for Ricky later on).  
> Enjoy!

Ashton was walking down the hallway of the school with his soccer teammates, psyched that it was finally Friday tomorrow, which also meant that it was just that much closer to Ricky's party on Saturday night. Everyone, at least the cool kids, were looking forward to it. Ricky's parties were always wild and crazy. The last one he had was two months ago and his parents were called because his aunt and uncle had came over to check on him and they found drugs, drinking, crazy party games...let's just say that Ricky's parents didn't want to claim him as there own after discovering what was there.

"Rickaayyyyy!" Jack, one of Ash's teammates called out when Ricky started walking towards them.

"Hey, man!" Ricky said, giving Jack a bro hug. 

"So is Saturday night going to be sick?!" Alec, another teammate, asked. 

"Of course. When are my parties never not sick?" Ricky asked, chuckling at the idiotic question. "Hey, Ash...are you going to bring Sierra with? I can reserve the master bedroom for you two."

"I just might ask you to do that. I have to make sure she's going first and her parents or anything aren't holding her back for some lame reason," Ashton told him, rolling his eyes at his last sentence. 

"Leave it to you to pick the rebel girl who has religious as fuck parents," Jack said. 

"But she's hot as hell and not at all bad in the bedroom," Ashton said cheekily. 

"She damn well better be if she's one of those girls where you have to date her and her parents," Seth, one of the more outspoken boys on the team. 

"And if we go to Ricky's party, we're going to have a sick ass night filled with hot sex," Ashton said, acting all arrogant and cocky because he was with the hottest girl in school. 

The truth was that Ashton has never slept with Sierra, despite what he told his jock friends and soccer team. She may be a typical preacher's daughter with the whole rebelling thing in some aspects, but when it came to sex, she had morals. Her and Ashton had talked about it before and she had told him she wanted to wait until she knew him better and wanted it to mean something, not just one night stands that meant nothing. He was okay with waiting because he genuinely liked Sierra and agreed with her thinking. Their friends had kept hounding Ashton if he had slept with her yet and she had given him permission to say that they had, just so they would get off his back. Not to mention that all of his teammates were beyond jealous of him.

"Speaking of hot sex, your girl is coming," Ricky said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Ashton followed his gaze and saw his model status girlfriend walking straight for him. He wrapped her in a hug and planted a deep kiss on her plump glossy lips. When they pulled away from each other, Sierra looked up at him, biting her bottom lip and smirking cheekily. 

"Missed you too, babe," Ashton said, feeling like King Shit in front of his teammates. "What's up?"

"I want you to come with me to the park," she said, flirtatiously pulling at his olive green jacket. 

He heard the guys snickering behind them, which was typical since they're immature teenage boys. He pressed a quick wet kiss to Sierra's lips again. "Okay."

Ashton bid his friends goodbye and listened to them make their sexual comments. He grabbed Sierra's hand and they walked out of the school together. People they passed were looking at them, some sweet and some jealous. Ashton loved when he saw the jealous ones because he just pulled her closer and walked with his head higher because Sierra was his trophy girl.

"Can we take my car?" Sierra asked when they got to the edge of the sidewalk. Ashton nodded and she led him to her Prius. 

He got into the passenger side and it felt off to him. He was usually the one who was driving her places. It was his job as her boyfriend to take her places, so he felt a little weird having it switched around. 

They got to the park, which wasn't that far from the school. She drove to the very back lot that was away from the playground equipment and parked in the very last space that was almost overtaken by the overgrown lilac bush. That's when Ashton knew what she wanted. 

But he was wrong. 

Sierra just sat in her seat, staring straight ahead with a straight face. She looked like something was bothering her. Ashton reached over, trying to grab her hand but she pulled away. 

"Is everything okay?" Ash asked her, actually feeling worried about her. "You were fine just a few minutes ago."

"Um...no," she said quietly. 

"What's wrong? Talk to me, babe," he told her reassuringly. 

"I..." she started, but then tears started falling down her cheeks. 

"Sierra, what happened? I'm worrying," Ashton warned, putting his hand on her knee, but she jerked it away.

"I...I think we should stop seeing each other," she said when she got a hold of herself. 

"W-what? Why?" Ashton asked, his voice cracking. 

She didn't say anything, she just continued staring down at her hands, silently crying. Ashton didn't know what to say or what had happened between them. She's been acting like she usually does all day, well, up until ten minutes ago. He wanted to know if it was something he said or something he did because he had thought they were happy. It's not like he didn't give her affection. He kissed her, held her hand, hugged her...any type of PDA, he would do every time he got a chance. 

"It would just be better if we did," Sierra said quietly. "The spark is gone, Ashton." 

Without another word, she started the car and backed out of the spot, quickly leaving the park and going back to school. Ashton wanted to ask her so many questions as to why, but he just couldn't get the words to form.

-

Luke left the computer lab, his laptop under his arm. The hallway was pretty much empty for only being around 3:05. He wasn't complaining. He hated when everyone acted like grazing cattle and clogged up the hallways, making it impossible for him to get out of this Hell hole. 

Quickly, he twirled the lock on his locker, opening it and getting the notebooks for classes that he had homework in and put them in his backpack. As usual, he almost shut his locker without grabbing the keys from the coat hook underneath the bookshelf. Luke just got his license the week prior, so he wasn't used to having to grab keys from the hook.

When he grabbed the keys and turned to start walking out the door, he almost got plowed over by Ashton Irwin, the school's most notorious party animal. 

"Watch it, asshole," Ashton snapped. 

"I'm sorry for taking up the whole damn hallway," Luke muttered.

"Fuck you, nerd!" Ashton said, flipping him off. 

Luke didn't think that he said it loud enough to hear him, but whatever. He was tempted to get in the last word, but refrained. He didn't need to waste his breath on Asshole Irwin. 

As he walked out of the building, he felt himself start to relax. It had been a rather stressful day, as everyday this week has been, and he felt that a night filled with an Investigation Discovery splurge was necessary while he piddled around on his homework.

-

Luke pulled the clunker of a car that his brother let him use while he was in Melbourne or somewhere into the driveway behind his mum's SUV. Luke waited until the song that was playing was over and then turned off the ignition, humming the tune to himself as he got out and walked up to his house. 

"Luke, sweetheart, is that you?" Liz, his mum, yelled, coming out of the kitchen. When she saw him, she got a smile on her face. "Hey, sweetie. You look tense."

"It's been a stressful day," Luke answered, putting his backpack on the floor next to the stairs. Liz glared at him, not approving of where he dropped his stuff, but didn't say anything. 

"If it makes you feel better, I'm making your favorite," Liz told him. 

Luke smile spread across his face, forgetting the day he had. He thought it was funny how Liz knew when he needed her homemade pizza. It always made him come out of a bad or stressed mood. 

"How'd you know I needed that?" Luke chuckled.

"A mother knows, Lucas," Liz said, earning a eye roll from her youngest son. "Do you have a lot of homework?" 

"Just some chemistry as usual," he answered her. 

"Alright. I'll call you down when dinner's ready," she smiled as Luke started up the stairs to his room, picking his backpack off the floor. 

He opened his door, the smell of Febreze wafting under his nose. He threw his backpack onto his bed and went over to his open laptop, logging on to check his email for any last minute video productions assignments. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out, seeing that it was his friend Michael telling him to Skype. 

Luke exhaled, not really wanting to talk to his best friend. He never demanded him to Skype with him unless if it was something important, like someone passed away or he had exciting news. Luke knew that his family was all pretty healthy and Michael was at school today, so nobody could have died. That means that something exciting happened. But that's Michael's definition of exciting. Unless they were going to meet a Youtuber or Criminal Minds cast member or a celebrity or go to a concert, Luke was most likely not going to be ecstatic at this news. 

He clicked call on Michael's contact, the Skype ring not lasting that long until Michael's overly excited picture showed up on the screen. Luke instantly felt like the most negative person on the planet because he hadn't necessarily been a peach all day and the chance of him being peachy at Michael's news wasn't likely. 

"Hemmo!" Michael squealed.

"What is so important that you had to demand I drop everything to Skype with you?" Luke asked, smirking.

"Oh, shut up. It's not like you were doing anything except getting your Netflix ready to watch Criminal Minds or whatever," Michael scoffed. 

"I was actually going to watch the Investigation Discovery channel tonight and that's a problem because I don't know what the damn channel number is. They reorganized," Luke told him. "Anyway, what's up?"

"I would ask you if you had plans this weekend, but I know better than that, so I made plans for you," Michael started, making Luke quirk his eyebrow in curiosity. Maybe Luke would be excited about Michael's news for a change.

"What do you mean, Clifford? What are you getting at?" Luke asked, anxious to find out what he was going to be doing this weekend. 

"On Saturday night, we're going to be going...are you ready for this?" Michael asked, purposely teasing Luke. He loved watching his best friend squirm. 

"I'm waiting patiently! Speak, woman!" Luke demanded.

"One, I am most certainly a male. But we're going to be going to Ricky's party on Saturday night!" Michael said, all giddy and happy and excited. 

"Ricky as in Ricky Dillon...?" Luke asked, hoping that Michael was somehow, some way, talking about the Youtuber and not Ricky Olson.

"I wish! Do you know how sick that would be to be partying with Connor, Troye, Kian, JC, Trevor...DUDE. That would be amazing!" Michael said, going of on his tangent. "But unfortunately, no. Ricky Olson. You know, the popular guy that throws the sick and crazy ass parties?" 

"I'm not going," Luke said immediately. 

"What? Why?" Michael asked, almost in disbelief that his best friend didn't want to spend his Saturday night at Ricky's first wild ass party since he got caught two months ago. But then he remembered that Luke wasn't much of a social butterfly. 

"Because I don't like Ricky or Ricky's friends. How did you get invited anyway?" Luke asked. He's dealt with Ricky a few times, and he's been nice to him, but he just didn't like Ricky because when he's with his friends, he's a cocky and arrogant asshole. 

"Today in study hall. I was trying to do my English paper, but got distracted like always, and he asked me to come. He said I could bring whoever I want, as long as it's not the police or a parent, so that means I'm bringing you," Michael explained.

"For one, I know my parents wouldn't be okay with that. And I don't even have a want or desire to go spend the night with a bunch of drunk and/or high teenagers that I have to see five days a week already," Luke told him, doing whatever he could to get out of it. 

"Simple. Don't tell them. Just say that you're going to be staying at my house. And everyone's different when they're out of school. They're more...fun?" Michael begged. He wanted his friend to get out more and he wanted to have fun. It would be lame if he showed up alone. 

"No," Luke answered.

"Please? Just consider it? I won't leave your side and we can leave when you want to," Michael said, negotiating. 

Luke let out a deep breath and looked at his pleading face. "Fine. I'll consider it. But I'm not going to guarantee that I'll change my mind." 

\- 

Ashton walked into his house, slamming the door behind him. He didn't even know why he was so mad about Sierra dumping him, he just was. Well, other than the fact that she didn't exactly tell him why. He was probably just mad because he was so used to people wanting to be around him, to people loving him. Now, someone that he still loved didn't want anything to do with him and that didn't feel right with him. It bothered him because he wanted to know what he could do to change her mind. 

Unlike one would think, Ashton hasn't had many real relationships. Sure, he's been in relationships with a handful of girls, but when it comes to serious ones that he's fallen hard for, it has only been Sierra and two other girls. Unlike Sierra, he knew the reasons that they were breaking up. But each time, whether he was the heart breaker or not, he always ended up being angry. Sad and angry. That was the two common emotions he felt.

The blonde went to his room, not bothering to see if there was anyone else in the house. He didn't care. Ashton just wanted to be left alone to hate the world and wallow in his breakup. 

Once he was in his room, he slammed the door shut so he nobody would barge in on him, or at least, he hoped. Nobody did really, but he just didn't want to deal with his family because they would be all 'poor baby' and all that sappy horse shit. 

Ashton fell onto his unmade bed, his hands flying over his face as he let out a throaty groan of frustration. "Why are relationships so fucking complicated?!" 

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. He moaned, trying to say come in, but it just came out as if he was a dying goat. Ashton took his hands off his face and propped himself up onto his shoulders to see that his aunt Clare was there. 

"Welcome home, Ashton," she said with a smile. "I thought someone had broke in, but then I realized that burglars usually don't want to be caught by the person that's home so they aren't going to slam doors. And then I heard what sounded like a wounded animal, so I knew that it had to be you. I'm guessing it was a tough day?" 

Ashton just pulled his mouth into a straight line and nodded. His aunt was always understanding and tried her best to lighten his mood when he was having a shitty day, but today just wasn't working for him. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, genuinely concerned for her nephew as she took a seat next to him on his bed.

Clare had always thought her and Ashton were close and she's seen him angry only a few rare times. He was always a positive and happy person, so he never got angry or saw the negative side of petty things. 

"Sierra broke up with me," Ashton told her as he sat up. 

Clare saw that Ashton's eyes welled up and a tear fell down his cheek. He's never been one to cry either. The only times Clare has ever seen the boy cry was when he broke his wrist when he was younger and when his parents had gotten a divorce. The tears told her that Ashton had true feelings for this girl. 

"It's going to be okay, Ash. Is this the girl you were oogling over just last week?" Clare asked. Ashton nodded. "What happened?"

Ashton shrugged. "I don't even know. I was talking with my teammates after school and she came up and was acting flirty like usual but then she took me to the park where we usually make out and she just dumped me and wouldn't tell me why."

Clare hated seeing Ashton cry, especially when the reasoning was because he was heartbroken. It was like seeing a completely different person that wasn't her nephew. She didn't say anything, but just hugged him tightly and let the seventeen year old boy cry into her shoulder to let out his heartbreak and frustration. 

Ashton never let anyone see him cry. He didn't cry often, but when he did or felt like he had to, he always made sure he was in private. If he were to cry in front of people, he felt judged and felt like a baby. But his aunt Clare never judged him when she saw him cry, which was rare. He felt comfortable wearing his heart on his sleeve when he was around her. He spent more time with her than he did his own mother. When it came to having these heart-to-heart talks anyway. Anne was always off with his younger siblings when they were at home or out with her friends or just spent time alone, writing or whatever she does when she's locked in her study. 

"It's going to be okay, I can promise you that. Maybe she just needs a break from dating for a week or so. Maybe she just has a lot going on and needs to take a little time get everything straight and the only way she can do that is to break up with you," Clare told him, hoping that she was giving him good advice. She's never had to give someone other than Anne consolation after a breakup and that was years ago. 

The two just sat on Ashton's bed for a solid twenty minutes, neither of them saying anything. All Ashton needed was a shoulder to cry on and his aunt's was exactly the person he wanted to know about it and see him at his most vulnerable. 

"Does anyone else know about it?" Clare asked, breaking the silence. 

"No. I'm going to have to text my friend Ricky and tell him that he's not going to have to...never mind," Ashton started, stopping himself from saying what he was about to say. 

Clare just laughed. She knew all about Ricky's parties and such. She didn't really condone the fact that these underage teenagers got so drunk, but she knew Ashton didn't drink much, if any, and always found a safe way to leave the party. 

"You can tell me, Ashton. I'm not your mother, so I'm not going to ground you," Clare reassured him.

"Well, Ricky is having a party at his place this weekend and he was going to cordon off and let us use the spare master bedroom for our first, um, time," Ashton told her, feeling slightly awkward talking about his sex life with Clare. 

"And now you have to tell him that he can put the room back up for grabs, right?" Clare clarified, earning a nod from her nephew. She looked at him and could tell that there was something more on his mind. "You're afraid to tell him because she's the hottest girl in school that was all yours and now you lost her and you're afraid that he's going to make fun of you for it?" 

Ashton shrugged. "Ricky's more of a blabber mouth. The whole school would know about it before first period tomorrow." 

"I can see where you're coming from. Just remember, everyone will find out sooner or later," Clare warned.

"I know, I just don't want to get all the fake sympathy from the sluts who have been waiting for this because it's a chance they can get in my pants," Ashton said. Clare rubbed his back, feeling bad for the kid. 

Clare could see that the majority of Ashton's friends were fake and just liked him because he was in a sport and that made him popular. They didn't really care about his personality or feelings like real friends should. She's tried to nonchalantly point it out to him, but like the good-hearted person Ashton is, he doesn't see bad in them until they've done something to hurt him. 

"I don't condone lying to people, but maybe you should just tell him that she doesn't want to go because she has a family affair or something? That way you wouldn't have to be straight with him when you don't know if you can trust him or his reaction," Clare suggested. 

"That's a good idea. Her parents are religious freaks and her dad's a preacher, so I can just use that as an excuse," Ashton told her with a sad, small smile. 

"You're a strong boy, Ashton Irwin. Heartbreak makes you wiser," Clare told him. "And when you get down about it, remember that it was a blessing because God was saving you from the wrong one." 

"Thanks, Clare," Ashton thanked.

"Anytime. You know I'm always here for my favorite nephew," Clare said, taking the boy into another hug. "I suppose I should make dinner so we don't starve to death."

"Where is everyone anyway?" Ashton asked.

"Lauren and Harry are both at a friend's house or something and Anne is out running errands. She said that she would be home by twelve, but that was five hours ago," Clare told him with a giggle. "So, it's just you and I tonight."

"Okay. I guess that's okay with me," Ashton said. 

"You can do whatever you need to do with Ricky or whatever and I'll make us some dinner, okay?" Clare suggested.

"Alright," Ashton agreed. As Clare got up, he grabbed his aunt's arm. "Thank you."

"As I said, I'm always here," Clare smiled and left the room.

Ashton took a deep breath, not really looking forward to having to lie to one of his friends about something that was certainly making an impact on his mood and such, but he knew that it had to be done. He grabbed his phone from the head of the bed, scrolling through his contacts until he found Ricky's and then tapped the Facetime button. He wiped his eyes quickly and then positioned himself so it wasn't that noticeable that he had been crying. Just as he found the perfect angle, Ricky had answered the video call.

"Wassup, Ashy?!" Ricky greeted, all cheery as usual. "Did you talk to your sexy lady about Saturday?" 

"Yeah. Her dad's not going to let her leave the house because he caught wind of the party from one of his interns at the church. Apparently, he's going to watch her like a hawk," Ashton lied, smoother than he thought it would've came out. 

"So, does that mean that the master bedroom is back up for grabs?" Ricky asked. 

"Yeah," Ashton exhaled, feeling tears prick his eyes. Before Ricky could say anything, he came up with an excuse to hang up before he would start crying. "My aunt is calling me for dinner, so I better go."

"Alright. Later, Irwin! And try to talk your babe into sneaking out. There's still hope!" Ricky said, with a smile on his face, so oblivious to the lie that Ashton had just told him. 

After he ended the video chat with Ricky, he went to his text messages and brought up his conversation with Sierra, frowning at it when he saw that the last messages sent were 'I love you' with the kissing emoji. He started typing out a message, just to save both of them from being the talk of the school tomorrow. He knew that she'd probably keep quiet about it anyway, but he just wanted to make sure that she knew he wanted to keep it under the radar for a few days until he fully accepted the fact that he was now back into the single game.

_Hey...can we keep the whole breakup thing a secret for a few days? I don't think either of us really want to be the Bradgelina and have all the attention on us._

She responded with a simple 'K', which she never did unless if she was upset. And whenever she was, it would always be Ashton who was there to make her happy and let her vent whatever she was upset about. It was usually stupid girl drama between her stuck up 'friends' that Ash really didn't care about, but he never told her that because it was obviously a big deal to her and he didn't like seeing her upset, so he would suck it up and let her rant. But now he couldn't do that because he was no longer her boyfriend. He was the reason she was upset and he couldn't try to make her smile because all he would be doing is bothering her and making her more upset. 

That was the unfortunate part of having the heart that he had when it came to an ex. 

\--


	2. Chapter 2

Luke was doing his best to avoid Michael for the day. He even changed his routes to classes that he normally ran into him at just so he wouldn't have to put up with the constant asking of whether or not he was going to Ricky's party tomorrow. Luke didn't want to. In all honesty, he didn't care to spend his Saturday night with a bunch of drunk and/or high teenagers that he couldn't normally stand when they're sober. He has better things he could be doing, like Netflix. Socializing has, and never will be, part of his weekend plans. Well, the partying type anyway. 

Just when he thought he was safe from Michael because he was in the library, in which Michael rarely ever goes to, he felt someone jump on his back. Only Michael would do that to him. Luke mentally cursed and turned to see the boy behind him, an excited expression on his tired face.

"Well, this is a rare scene; Michael Clifford in the library. What girl walked in here that you feel the need to stalk?" Luke smirked, earning a dramatic eyeroll from Michael. 

"Unless if you're a girl, I came in here to find you," Michael said.

"What? Why?" Luke asked, knowing that he probably only needed to find him for the answer on that damn party.

"Because I haven't seen you all day and I missed you dearly, Lukey," he answered.

"Cut the shit. You're making me gag," Luke chuckled. "What do you want?" 

"I need to know the answer for Ricky's party. I have to get my clothes planned out," Michael finally said. Just as Luke figured.

"Do you also have to make a hair appointment? Maybe we could get mani-pedis together!" Luke smarted off, using a very gay voice. 

"So we are going?!" Michael asked, completely ignoring the 'joke' Luke was making. 

"What? I don't know! I haven't thought about it!" Luke told him, hoping that Michael would just give up on asking him. Apparently, he hasn't stressed how much he hates parties enough. 

"Luke! The party is tomorrow! Do you realize that?!" Michael said, actually panicking.

"So? It's not like we have to be there at a specific time. This isn't a black tie event, dipshit," Luke told him. "Just calm down."

"But I want to know! You told me that you'd tell me today!" Michael begged. He was acting like a little kid. "Please, Lukey?"

"I told you that I'd think about it and your begging isn't helping me decide any faster," Luke warned him. 

"Why do you have to be so impossible, Hemmings? It's just a party. I told you that we could leave whenever you wanted to, so it shouldn't be that hard of a decision. Plus, it's not like I ask you to do this every single weekend. Actually, I don't think I've ever asked you to go to a party because I've never been invited! It isn't like we're going to be like everyone else and drink or do drugs or have sex with people. You don't have to do what everyone else does. I just asked you because I'd rather go with you than go myself. I wanted my first high school party experience to be with my best friend, but apparently, I'll never get that," Michael spewed, turning and walking away after he finished.

Luke could tell that Michael was upset with him. He didn't think that this party meant that much to him, but apparently it did. He thought that Michael just wanted to go to be like the cool kids and drink and dance and just let out his wild side. Luke was actually expecting for Michael to ditch him as soon as they got there because he would get all swept up in the drinking and girls, but he was wrong. From the sounds of it, Michael had no interest in drinking or any of that stupidity. He wanted to experience what it was like to be a cool kid with Luke while he was sober because he knew that it probably wouldn't happen ever again, especially a Ricky party. 

Luke didn't like seeing his best friend upset and he certainly didn't like being the cause of it. Michael just has that pout about him that made you feel like you just abused a puppy every time you saw it. Letting out a sigh, Luke went after Michael.

"Mikey, come here," Luke called after the boy, who turned around and looked at Luke with an irritated expression.

"What could you possibly want from me?" Michael asked, getting all dramatic on him as he trudged towards Luke. 

"I can't believe I'm doing this," the blonde started, pinching the bridge of his nose and then looked at his green-eyed best friend. "We can go to Ricky's damn party."

Michael's face lit up like a Christmas tree with millions of lights on it. The only other times Luke has seen him that excited about something is when they met Connor Franta a few months ago. He didn't think that a party, especially for someone like Ricky Olson, was the equivalent to Connor Franta, but hey, it's whatever.

"Are you serious, Luke?! You're actually coming with?!" Michael asked, trying to suppress his fanboy. 

"I'm serious, Mikey. Settle down, you're going to get us kicked out," Luke laughed.

"Thank you so much, Lukey! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Michael said, grabbing Luke in a tight hug, catching the blonde off guard. 

"Michael, I can't breathe," Luke said into the bleach blonde boy's ear. 

"Sorry," Mikey apologized, letting Luke out of his tight grip and backed away with a smile on his face. "Thank you, Luke."

"Yeah. But this is the only time I'm giving in, so don't ask me to go ever again," Luke told him, pointing his finger at him. 

\--

Ashton was walking quietly and alone through the halls, which was certainly unlike him since he was always surrounded by his friends or was with Sierra. But today, he didn't really want to talk to any of them. He wanted to be alone, so he purposely took his time gathering his books at the end of his classes and took his leisurely time getting to his locker and classes so he could avoid them. 

Unsurprisingly, none of them have texted him or approached him to see what happened to him, but then again, he hadn't really checked his phone. He usually was glued to it during class, but that's because he was texting Sierra. But he wasn't able to text her anymore. Well, he could, but it would make him look obsessive and he would be having a one sided conversation with himself. 

As he was getting closer to his locker, he heard a loud group of girls laughing. He looked up from the floor to where the obnoxiousness was coming from and saw that it was Sierra and her group of friends. But Sierra wasn't laughing. She looked upset, which made Ashton feel a little...better? He knew that he wasn't meaningless in her eyes and that this was affecting her like it was affecting him. Or so he hoped.

Sierra looked up, noticing that Ashton was staring directly at her. He quickly averted his eyes and continued to walk to his locker somberly. Sierra didn't like that she had broken his heart, but she knew that it was for the better. She would rather have broken up with him like she had instead of just stringing him along. 

Ashton dialed in the combination, opening his locker and getting his English folder out of it. He was trying so hard to pretend like Sierra wasn't there, that he didn't even notice Alec come up behind him until he jumped on his back. 

"Holy fuck!" Ashton cursed, dropping his stuff as the black haired boy got off of him, laughing. 

"Hey, Ash," Alec laughed. 

"Hey. What's up?" he asked, trying to make it like nothing was bothering him.

"Well, if you aren't busy after school with your smokin' lady, the boys and I were wondering if you wanted to do a game of hoops or something and then help Ricky get shit for the party," Alec proposed. 

"Um, yeah, that would be fine," Ashton answered, earning a confused expression from Alec.

"Are you and Sierra not doing anything tonight? You guys always go off after school on Fridays," Alec questioned. "Yeah, she can't. She has to help her mum with some church bake sale or something," Ashton lied, trying not to let Alec know that he was lying. He was never very good at it, no matter how hard he tried.

"Okay. See you after class," Alec said walking away towards his last class of the day. 

Ashton picked up the stuff he dropped and then closed his locker. As he turned around to start heading to English, he couldn't help but look at Sierra one more time. She just looked at him for one split second, giving him a heartbroken expression and then she looked away. All Ashton wanted to do was go to her and hug her, to tell her how sorry he was even though he didn't know if he did anything. But he couldn't do that. If he knew Sierra at all, he knew that she was always one to stick to her words, no matter how bad the thing was. And unfortunately, that's how she was going to act with their breakup. 

He hurried to English class, happy that the day was nearly over with. He didn't want to go with the boys, but he knew that it would be better than just wallowing in his own self pity at home. He didn't like this sad feeling, so he needed to do whatever he could to shake it. That and he couldn't let anyone know that something was going on, even if they were to catch on sooner or later.

The warning bell rang and Ashton huffed, knowing that he wasn't going to get his usual spot by Seth and a few of the other guys from the team, which pissed him off. He wasn't in the mood to sit by some nerd that he didn't talk to. He couldn't survive English class. That's why he sat by his friends; they never paid attention and just texted each other with jokes about their teacher and shit like that. 

Once he got into the doorway of the classroom, he saw that some scary goth chick had taken his spot. He would've went back and threatened to beat her or something, but she was too scary for Ashton. He wasn't even sure it was a girl, to be honest. Quickly, he glanced around the classroom, looking for a seat that he could at least fall asleep in without Ms. Turson noticing. He finally saw one that was next to some nerd kid that never talked to anyone. He looked tolerable, at least, more tolerable than Izzy Morrison, who had this crazy obsession with whoever would make the fateful decision to sit by her. 

Ashton threw his folder onto the table and plopped down in the chair next to whatever the kid's name was. He glanced at him and went back to scrolling on his phone. This was going to be just a wonderful class for Ashton. 

"You know, Turson will kill you if she sees you with your phone, right?" the nameless boy said.

"Yeah, well, let her. This day can't get anymore shitty," Ashton scoffed to him. 

Ashton ignored the kid and continued scrolling through his Twitter feed. When the teacher walked by, he casually hid it under his book so that nerd next to him wouldn't prove his point. That's the last thing he was in the mood for; some know-it-all getting his way. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't hesitate to punch him in the mouth. 

"Mr. Irwin? Are you listening to me?" Ms. Turson snapped, her snotty and bitchy tone cutting through the somewhat quiet classroom.

"Sorry. What?" Ashton asked. Turson gave him a weird look, taken aback by his normal response. Usually, he would get all sarcastic and sass her. But he just wasn't in the mood today. 

"My class isn't a time to daydream, Mr. Irwin. I want you to be partners with Luke for the peer review," she demanded. 

Before he could ask who Luke was, the nerd next to him was nudging him. He had his paper out and was looking at Ashton expectantly, waiting for him to get his essay out of his folder. 

"What?" Ashton asked, practically snapping at Luke.

"Did you do the assignment or...?" Luke asked, trying not to sound like a smartass. 

Ashton rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath and opened his folder to find the paper that he literally bullshitted the other night. He pulled out the piece of paper and flung it towards Luke, who nicely slid his over to Ashton in return. The last thing that Ashton wanted to even do right now was correct someone's paper that probably had all the required shit and perfect grammar anyway. Plus, he already knew that his paper was going to be all marked up anyway because he's crap when it comes to English. 

"Are you okay? You seem a little pissed off," Luke pointed out.

"Why the fuck do you care anyway? You don't even know me," Ashton snapped at the nerd. 

"Well, I care because I'm afraid you're going to demolish my paper," he said, trying to get the kid to smile at his lame joke. He didn't like Ashton Irwin at all, but it was just in his nature to make someone that was upset smile. That's what he was going to try to do with Ashton, but he wasn't positive it would even work since the guy was such a dick anyways. "And you're just not your usual smart ass self."

"Well, I'm sorry that your fucking paper has feelings," Ashton hissed. 

He went back to trying to concentrate on Luke's perfect essay, not making any marks with his red pen like he knew Luke was doing. He didn't even know what the essay was supposed to be about, so he didn't know if the facts were right or not. He didn't care either. If Luke got caught with copying someone else's work, he would enjoy watching it because that kid can't be perfect all of the God damn time.

"Hey, Ashton..." a girl said from behind him. 

He looked up from Luke's perfect paper and looked at Alicia, one of Sierra's friends and also one of the biggest backstabbers in the school. "Hey, Alicia."

"So, are you still going to the party?" she asked, pulling a chair up next to the table.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? It's Ricky's first party in eons. I wouldn't miss it," Ashton told her. He wasn't lying. It was rare that Ashton ever missed a party, especially a Ricky party. 

"I just wasn't sure because of the whole thing with Sierra..." Alicia trailed. Ashton knew where she was going. She was trying to get the truth out of him so she could start a rumor or some shit. 

"What thing with Sierra?" Ashton asked, pretending that he didn't know what she was talking about. 

"Didn't you guys break up?" Alicia continued. 

"No...not that I know of. Who told you that shit?" he asked, again, lying.

"You guys just haven't been around each other or anything today. Plus, you look pretty pissed off," she pointed out.

"Jesus, do I look pissed off to everyone today?!" Ashton asked to nobody in particular.

"Yeah," Luke piped in.

"Fuck off, nerd," Ashton snapped at him.

"Please tell me you didn't choose to have that loser as your partner?" Alicia asked.

"God, no. The devil's mistress made me," Ashton said, rolling his eyes. 

Luke ignored it, continuing to harshly correct Ashton's paper. He knew that he was going to be the only one in this group actually doing work. Ashton just doesn't do anything because he's too interested in his love life and parties and all of that stupid shit. He doubted that the kid would even correct what Luke was fixing. 

"So, you guys are still together?" Alicia asked Ashton, as if Ashton's previous answer wasn't clarification enough.

"Yeah," he answered, trying not to let his heartbreak show.

"And you're going to the party with her?" Alicia asked. She was really getting on both of the boys' nerves. 

"I don't know if she can or not," he told her.

"Alicia! Are you and your partner finished?" Ms. Turson asked from her desk.

"Yeah," Alicia answered, rolling her eyes.

"But Mr. Irwin isn't. Please go back to your seat and let Mr. Irwin finish," Ms. Turson demanded.

"Bitch," Alicia grumbled under her breath, getting up from the chair and went back to wherever she was sitting. 

"I never thought she was going to leave," Luke mumbled, causing Ashton to chuckle quietly. Luke looked at Ashton, smirking. 

Ashton noticed and got his hardass attitude back within seconds. "Are you almost done? Holy fuck."

"Not my fault that you don't know how to write," Luke jabbed. 

"Not all of us are perfect little nerds all the time," Ashton backsassed. 

"I'd rather be a nerd than an idiot," Luke insulted.

"Oh, really? How many girlfriends have you had? How many times have you had sex? Have you even kissed anyone?" Ashton questioned, already knowing the answer to all of them. 

"Unlike you, I actually want a real relationship that isn't based purely on sex," Luke sneered. 

"Fuck you. My relationship with Sierra is not based on sex," Ashton said, almost letting it slip that he's never had sex with her, but everyone believes that they have multiple times. 

"Yeah, whatever. That's not what your so-called friends have said," Luke finished. 

"Whatever, asshole."

\--


	3. Chapter 3

"Luke, sweetie, you have a visitor," Liz said, appearing in the doorway of Luke's room.

Luke didn't hear her since he had his headphones on. She stood there, waiting until he looked up from his laptop. Liz was always irritated that he had his music up so loud that he couldn't hear or notice anything around him, especially since they were Beats and were noise cancelling anyway. She was just being a mother about it, but she didn't say anything because she knew Luke would get ticked off about her nagging him about it.

"Sorry, mum," Luke said, finally noticing her and slipped off his headphones. "What?"

"You have a visitor, sweetie," Liz said, a small smile forming on her face because of how adorable and innocent her son looked.

"Who?" he asked, his face twisting into a questioning look.

"Who would the only person that would come to visit you?" she asked, a playful smile on her face.

"I'm guessing it's Clifford?" Luke smirked, taking his headphones out completely and set down his laptop on the bed next to him.

Liz nodded and Luke got up to follow her downstairs. Liz branched off into the kitchen and Luke saw Michael standing in the doorway, looking excited about something. Luke was hoping he wasn't going to obsess over the party anymore, but that's like telling Miley Cyrus to stop twerking.

"Luke! Lukey, Lukester, Lucifer, Luke-alicious," Michael started.

Luke quirked his eyebrow at his best friend, knowing that he wanted something from him. He never asked for money, so Luke knew it probably wasn't that. It's that he wanted to do something with him or wanted to hang out with him. He did things like this often when he's determined and he was just awkward sometimes.

"Are you trying to rename me? Because I really like Luke-alicious," Luke joked, moving his eyebrows up and down.

"I'm never calling you that again just because you did the pedophile eyebrow thing," Michael pointed out, causing both boys to start laughing.

"What do you want?" Luke asked.

"So...I have to get a few things for my mum and I wondered if you wanted to go with me?" he asked awkwardly.

"Sure, but let me che-"

"You don't have to ask, Luke. It's Michael, I know he won't kill my child," Liz called from the kitchen.

"Well, I guess I can," Luke chuckled and then followed Michael out to his mum's car.

\----

Luke didn't question why they went to the mall, at least not at first. He figured that she needed some perfume or something from Macy's or some store that Michael wouldn't normally shop at. It was until Michael started going towards Hot Topic that Luke knew why they were actually there. Michael's mum didn't shop at Hot Topic unless she was getting something as a present for Michael.

"So, when did your mum take interest in this wonderful establishment?" Luke asked his bleach blonde haired friend with a smirk on his face.

Michael turned to face him as the two walked into the shop and Michael's cheeks tinted pink like they usually did when he was lying. "When she decided that she was in love with bands just as much as I was."

"That's a lie, Mikey," Luke chuckled. "She didn't need anything here, did she?"

"No..." he trailed, not facing Luke.

"Why didn't you just ask me if I wanted to go to the mall with you? You know I would've said yes. I can't turn down Hot Topic, bro," Luke said.

"Because you would think that the reason I wanted to go was kinda stupid," Michael admitted quietly, sifting through the clearance rack of t-shirts.

"Why? Because you wanted to get a new band shirt or something for tomorrow? That's not stupid; I actually expected that," the blonde said, confused as to why Michael was acting so weird about this.

"No...it's something else I came here for," he said, sounding ashamed. "I didn't want to do it alone because I don't know what I'm doing and I didn't want to bring my mum because she doesn't know about it yet...so I brought you instead because you're my best friend and I'm hoping to God that you won't judge me for it."

"Well, you'll never know if you don't tell me what the hell you're really here for. Please tell me you're not going to make me buy some sex shit at Spencer's for you because I refuse to do that," Luke told him. He knew he didn't have to worry about that because as far as Luke knew, Michael was single. But you could never be too sure nowadays.

"I...you're going to call me a girl," Michael said, purposely dragging on.

"I can't if you don't tell me!" Luke said, starting to get impatient. He gave him a glare. "I won't call you a girl, Mikey. You're my best friend; you can tell me anything."

"I...want to dye my hair," he finally spit out, quickly averting his eyes from Luke's.

"That's it?" Luke asked him, waiting for something more outrageous than that.

"Y-yeah," he stammered.

"What's so bad about that?" Luke asked.

"Guys don't usually dye their hair. I've never dyed my hair; I've only bleached it," Michael told him. He always seemed confident, but when it came to certain things, especially his looks, Michael got a bit insecure. He liked to think of himself as good looking, but he didn't want to think he was and then look like a complete doofus.

"Well, what color were you thinking?" Luke asked, not thinking that Michael's desire was that bad.

"Um, black maybe? I don't want to go extreme and get blue. I know that black would match my clothes," Michael explained, getting a bit more excited about it.

"Not too bad. Are you going to get the dye stuff here or get it done at a professional place?" Luke asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you," he chuckled nervously.

"Me? Why would I know? I don't dye my hair either!" Luke answered.

"Yeah, but you're more...girlier than me," Michael said, trying not to laugh.

"Says the one who wanted to plan out their outfit for a damn party," Luke scoffed.

"What? I like to be prepared," he said.

"I guess I would get it done professionally since it's your first time and your mum doesn't know about it," Luke suggested.

"Okay...so could you come with me?" he asked.

"That's why you dragged me here," Luke told him.

\----

Ashton was changed into a pair of his basketball shorts and a sleeveless shirt, trying to act focused on the game of basketball he and his friends were playing. So far, he was a brilliant actor because none of them were asking him what was bothering him. Either that or they were completely oblivious to his feelings.

"So, Ash, why are you hanging with us again?" Ricky asked.

"Because I had nothing better to do," he panted, dribbling the ball past Seth.

"We're just your back ups when you're not banging Sierra now?" Jack asked, sounding pissed.

Ashton stopped dribbling the ball, catching it in his hands. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you basically said that you were only hanging with us because you were bored and you couldn't hang with Sierra. That means we're just here for you when you get bored," Jack explained.

"Where the hell is this coming from? I didn't mean it like that," Ashton defended, confused as to why one of his friends was trying to pick a fight with him.

"You're putting that slut before us, you dick. Are you that oblivious?" he spat.

"Jack, knock it off," Ricky warned. "C'mon, Ashton. Let's just play."

"Fuck that. I want to know why he's trying to fight with me," Ashton told Ricky. He turned to the shirtless Jack. "She's not a slut either."

"Oh, really? You actually think that you were her first? Have you not seen what a flirt she is with all the guys? How she basically throws herself on them?" he continued egging. "Did you not see how she was acting today? She's with you and she was this close to taking Danny's pants off in the middle of the hall."

"Well, she has every damn right to! She's single, so she can throw her God damn self at whoever the hell she wants!" Ashton screamed at him, furious at how Jack was insulting her.

All of the boys froze, looking at Ashton with surprised looks. And then he realized what he had said and that he wasn't going to say anything because they weren't going to think of him as the alpha male or as highly of him because he wasn't dating the hottest girl in the school anymore.

"What?" Ricky asked.

"You're not with Sierra anymore?" Seth asked.

"Is that why I didn't see you around her at all?" Alec asked.

Jack stayed quiet, just staring at Ashton with an expressionless glare. Ashton looked between the four of them, tears rimming his eyes, but he wouldn't allow them to fall because he couldn't look like a lovesick and broken hearted weakling. He couldn't do that in front of them. They would never let him live it down.

"That's why you told me not to reserve the master bedroom for you guys tomorrow night, isn't it?" Ricky pointed out, just making Ashton want to run away and cry like a little child more so than he already did.

"When did this happen?" Seth asked quietly, grabbing his shirt from his things.

Ashton didn't say anything. He didn't want to be faced with questions and end up crying like a baby. He just wanted to go home where he could bawl in the presence of hopefully Clare. She would understand like she usually did.

The four boys continued peppering him with questions and Ashton couldn't find the will to hold down his tears any longer, so he grabbed his things and took off towards his car so he could be in his own privacy. He agreed to this basketball thing to take his mind off of Sierra, not leave in tears.

\----

He decided to take the long way home and just let out his tears and sadness in his own privacy in case if Clare wasn't there. But when he pulled up to his house, he saw her car parked in the driveway. The only thing he could wish for now was that his mum or siblings weren't there also.

He never cried in front of his mum, only when he was little and maybe once in middle school. She just didn't understand him and basically called him a baby for whatever it was that he had been crying about in the first place. The only other person that had seen him cry was Clare. She would always help him through it. She didn't call him a baby or say that the reason he was so upset about was childish. It seemed that Clare was the only one who truly cared about him, other than Sierra, but Sierra wasn't in the picture anymore so she didn't count anymore.

He parked behind Clare's vehicle and wiped his swollen eyes as he hurried into the house. He heard his siblings in the other room, bickering about God knows what. He tried not to slam the door because he knew that Harry and Lauren would come running in and hug him like they haven't seen him in years. He normally would be in the mood to give his siblings love and be around them, but now, he didn't want hugs or anything from them.

"Ash-It is you! I thought it was going to be your mother finally, but I know better," Clare said, walking out of the laundry room. Her smile faltered. "Is everything okay, honey?"

"Yeah, just grand," Ashton muttered angrily, throwing his athletic bag on the floor and ran up the stairs to his room.

Once he was in his room, he grabbed the nearest thing on his shelf and chucked it at the wall as hard as he could. As it fell to the floor, he let out an angry scream. He didn't even know why he was so angry other than the fact that Jack had pissed him off, he was probably the talk of the school already, and he just missed Sierra and wanted to know what the hell he did wrong.

"Ashton? Please let me in," Clare said through the door. "I heard something break. Can you please let me in?"

Ashton didn't answer and just cried into his pillow. He knew Clare would only help feel a little better and calmed down, but he just didn't want that right now. He didn't want to lose anymore manliness than he already has by nearly losing it in front of Ricky, Jack, Seth and Alec.

"I'm guessing something happened with Sierra again today, and I understand what you're feeling. Do you want to talk about it?" Clare asked.

"Just leave!" Ashton yelled.

"Just talk to me when you're ready," she said more quietly.

\----

Luke was casually reading one of the magazines in the waiting area of the small hair salon. He was kind of excited to see what Michael was going to look like with the extreme change in color. Of course Michael was going to be able to rock it since he was trying to have that punk rock impression.

"How does it look?" Michael said after an hour and a half.

Luke looked up from the magazine at his once bleach haired friend to see a now completely black haired Michael Clifford. "Woah."

"Is that a good woah or...?" Michael asked, an amused smile on his face.

"You look badass," Luke answered. "I like it."

Michael smirked, which fit his now fully punk aura. "Well, good. That was the idea."

"Are you looking to get anything done, sir?" Ernesto, the stylist, asked Michael.

"I think I'm good. Thanks, man," Michael thanked, following the flamboyant man to the counter to pay for his dye job.

It was going to take some getting used to for Luke because he was used to seeing Michael as a light haired, harmless kid. Now he looked like a badass, punk rock troublemaker. He wasn't the last part, but he knew that Michael was going to try even harder to live up to that image and it was going to be a bit intimidating for Luke.

"We should probably tell your mum," Luke suggested as they walked out into the mall.

"Do you think she'll be mad?" Michael asked, sounding a little scared about it. So much for badass.

"No...maybe a little about the fact that you didn't tell her, but she'll just be surprised about the color," Luke explained. He knew Michael's mum just as well as he knew his own and he knew that Karen wouldn't be mad about it. She would just need a little time to get used to it.

The two boys drove back to Michael's house because the now black haired boy wanted Luke to be there when he showed Karen and Daryl so they wouldn't lose their shit. And he just needed Luke's opinion on his outfit for tomorrow night. Luke thought it was kind of sad that Michael was acting like such a girl about this party. He might as well of gotten extensions and boob implants so Luke could claim him as his date.

They walked into the house, hearing the telly on in the other room. Michael looked at Luke, a little scared to go into the room and of his parents reactions, but Luke assured him that it would be alright. It wasn't like it was permanent, so he could change it in a month.

"Michael? Is that you?" Karen called from the living room.

"Y-yeah. Luke's with me," Michael said, forcing Luke to go into the living room first.

"Hi, Luke," Karen smiled. Michael walked out from behind Luke and Karen's eyes widened. "Michael...what did you do to your head?"

\----


	4. Chapter 4

Ashton walked downstairs after an hour so of letting himself cool down. He wasn't really wanting to talk to Clare about it because he didn't want to get so worked up again. She wasn't going to pressure him into it, but she was going to worry about it and be all sympathetic until he would say. His siblings were sitting in the living room, Lauren on her iPad and Harry playing Grand Theft Auto on the xBox. 

"Lauren, where's Clare?" Ashton asked his little sister, his voice hoarse.

"She's making dinner," Lauren responded with a small smile. 

Ashton made his way into the kitchen, his aunt standing at the counter with her back to him. She had her phone playing music quietly in the background as she made a salad for part of their dinner. He didn't know how to approach her without scaring her and he didn't really want her scared when she had a knife in her hands. 

Luckily, she turned around to get something else and she saw Ashton standing there. "Jesus, Ashton. You scared me."

"Sorry," he apologized. 

"Is everything okay now?" she asked, grabbing the ranch dressing.

"Yeah, I guess," he lied. It wasn't fine at all. He was still bitter about the whole subject.

"Well, I have a little news that will make your day a little less shitty then. If you want to know that is," Clare said, going to the oven and pulled out what looked to be chicken breast.

"Yeah, sure. Anything could make this day better," Ashton told her.

"Your mum is going to be getting home in a little bit and we're going to have dinner together," Clare started.

"What's the occasion?" he scoffed, shocked that they would all be eating dinner together for once. 

"You didn't let me finish," she said, a small smile on her face. "James is coming home from Uni and I invited him to dinner."

Ashton's eyes lit up. He hadn't seen his cousin James in what felt like forever. James was literally his best friend since he could remember and seeing him after having a rather shitty day was like giving a homeless kid a puppy.

"Are you serious? When is he coming?" Ashton asked, acting like a little kid on Christmas.

"He's coming in a little bit. He's so excited to see you that he begged to stay for the weekend," Clare said with a smile on her face. Ashton had the biggest smile on his face. "I can see that I just made your day."

"Hell yes you did. That was probably the best news I've heard all day," he said, trying his hardest not to start jumping up and down like a child. 

Ashton didn't know what to do. He was so excited to see James. He could bring him to the party tomorrow night, show him off to his friends and everyone else. He was going to be able to finally introduce Sie-

That's when his smile fell. 

He remembered how he had told Sierra about James and how he thought of his cousin as his best friend and practically his brother. She had said that the next time he came home from Uni, she wanted to meet her boyfriend's true best friend. And he had also always talked and bragged about her to James when they would text or Skype. He wanted to be the protective big brother and meet the girl who stole his heart. Now two of the most important people in his life would never meet each other because one of them just up and left him. 

\----

Michael's mum and dad weren't angry at all about their son's new dye job.They thought that it looked cool but it would just need some getting used to first. Now Michael was making Luke help him decide on his outfit for tomorrow. The kid was taking this party way more seriously than he should be. 

"What about this one?" Michael asked, holding up a black Asking Alexandria t-shirt and red plaid shirt to go over the top.

"It looks beautiful. You'll definitely get all the ladies with it," Luke said, very obviously faking his enthusiasm.

"C'mon, Hemmo. I don't want to look like an idiot," Michael sighed, looking at the blonde with a straight face. "Can you please be serious about this?" 

"Alright, I'm sorry, Mikey. I'm being an asshole," Luke apologized. "It looks good."

"Just good?" the black haired boy asked.

"Well, I'm not going to say it's cute because I'm not a girl. It looks like something you would wear," Luke clarified, mentally rolling his eyes. 

"You're absolutely no help, Luke," Michael scoffed.

"What do you want me to do? Go all girly on you and be like 'like oh my God, that is so cute, betch'? Because it's not going to happen," Luke told him.

"Just tell me if it's amazing or not," he said. 

When he turned around, Luke made the gesture of choking him because he was now really acting like a girl. Sometimes Luke wondered if he was actually a girl trapped inside a teenage boy's body. 

"This?" Michael asked, holding up another outfit choice.

"Can we just go get food or something? Take a break?" Luke asked, avoiding the clothes that were in Michael's hands. 

"Not until I find something to wear," Michael rejected.

"Seriously? You think everything is a disaster, even if I think that they are perfectly fine. A break and pizza might do you good," Luke suggested, hoping that the black haired boy would reconsider. "Not only that, but I'm fucking hungry."

"Ugh, fine. But you're not going home until I have something picked out for tomorrow," Michael commanded.

\----

"So, how has my little cousin's life been?" James asked, playing catch with himself as he laid on Ashton's bed. 

"It's been...lifey," Ashton admitted, not really wanting to go into detail about it. Not when he was in this good of mood. 

"Life is always lifey, dipshit. Give me details! What about that girl you're always ogling about to me?" James asked. 

Ashton went quiet, not sure what to say to him. He didn't want to lie to him, but he didn't want to tell him about it. 

"Is everything okay...?" James asked, realizing that Ashton looked rather nervous. "Did you two break up?" 

"Y-yeah," Ashton stuttered, trying to keep from breaking down yet again over some girl who probably never even loved him in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Ash...you'll find someone much better than her," James tried to comfort. He wasn't really good at this kind of thing. And seeing that Ashton was taking it rather hard made it a little more difficult to help him with. James never really had to deal with it before.

"Thanks, James," he said quietly. 

"Do you want to do something? Take your mind off of it? Mum told me you had a rough day today, so I was wondering if you wanted to go raise hell somewhere?" James offered, hoping that his little cousin would agree. He hated seeing Ashton upset and was determined to see his wonderful smile again.

"Um, sure. What do you want to do?" Ashton agreed. 

"Well, we could just go to Edwin's? Like we always do and get some ice cream?" James asked, earning a very enthusiastic nod from Ashton. 

The two decided to walk to Edwin's, despite James having his old beater. It was a nice night out and it couldn't hurt to get some exercise, especially since they were going to an ice cream stand to get the biggest ice cream cones in Sydney. There was a fair amount of people there when they arrived. Ashton's friends and some other classmates were playing basketball in the court next to the building, hopefully not noticing him and James walking by. He was also hoping Jack wasn't somewhere in the crowd. 

"So, what are you going to get?" James asked.

"Cookies and cream as always," Ashton joked. 

"I think I am going to get the usual chocolate," James told Ashton with a smile. 

The two stood in the somewhat short line and listened to the newbies 'oh' and 'awe' at the gigantic cups and cones of ice cream they were getting. Ashton remembered the first time him and James went here and remembered that they were just as surprised at how much ice cream they were getting as them. Except the difference would be that the two ate every bit of it in record time, which these people were most likely not going to do. 

"Ashton?" 

Both of the blonde boys turned around to see who was calling Ashton. It was Seth, unfortunately. He was on the other side of the fence of the basketball court.

"Who's that bloke?" James asked Ashton silently, looking at the shirtless and sweaty boy that was calling his cousin.

"It's my friend and teammate Seth," Ashton replied. "Hey, Seth!"

"After you're done, come over here!" Seth yelled to them, which Ashton replied with a thumbs up.

Ashton turned around and tried not to look mad that he had to go talk to the people he really would rather not see until tomorrow when he had no choice. He could feel James looking at him and it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. 

"I'm guessing you don't want to see them? I mean, by the look on your face," James said.

"I had an argument with my buddy Jack this afternoon," Ashton told him. "Seth, Ricky, and Alec were all there and I told them I broke up with Sierra and now I'm pretty sure the whole school knows."

"So, you're basically saying you don't want to see them because you're breakup being outed was a hit to your social status? Ash, you don't need some girl tagging on you to make you come across as the alpha male. You just need to be a kickass guy that all the girls want, but they can't have. You need to act like this breakup isn't going to bother you," James told him. 

"What?" he questioned.

"If you show that it bothers you, you look like a weak little baby. I'm not saying that you can't still be upset about it, because you can, but if you want to keep your manly status around your friends, you have to put up that fake front. It shows that it's going to take more than that to break you," James explained. 

It made sense to Ashton. That's what he had been afraid of since the minute Sierra had broke up with him. He admitted that he liked that feeling of everyone looking at him like he was the coolest kid on the block, that he was the most popular guy in his year. All because he was dating Sierra. People looked up to him for that and he didn't want to lose that. He was the party animal that everyone loved. He couldn't let some girl ruin his reputation that he had always wanted. He couldn't let her win like that. 

"Alright. That makes sense," Ashton told James with a smile, finally happy that someone was giving him the answer he has been waiting for for the past two days. 

Ashton and James got their ice cream cones and headed over towards Seth and Ashton's other friends. A few of the popular girls and some of the guys who wanted the girls were all over by the fence, watching the guys play basketball. 

"Hey, Ash! Is that James?" Ricky called from the court.

"Ayeeeeeee!" James said, throwing one free hand up in the air and the other around Ashton. 

"Bro, it's been forever!" Ricky said, running over to the two. "What is up, man?" 

Ashton has brought James around his friends a few years ago, Ricky and Alec being the only ones of his current friends that were there. James and Ricky hit it off really well, considering they both had the same type of humor. He didn't mind James and Ricky being friends right now, but when he was younger, he had a problem with it. He had thought that Ricky was trying to steal James away from him and basically, Ashton was just a jealous person back then. He's gotten a lot better though. 

"Ash, can I talk to you for a minute?" Seth asked as he set the basketball by the pole of the hoop. 

"Yeah, sure," Ashton agreed, going over to him and left Ricky and James to talk and catch up with each other. "Where's Jack?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Seth said.

"Oh, okay," Ashton shrugged. "What?"

"You know he only gets angry if he has a really good reason, right?" Seth asked.

"Yeah. Why was he so mad at me?" Ashton asked, actually curious as to why his friend wanted to pick a fight with him. 

"Because...he was trashing Sierra because he was trying to make himself feel better, but really, Sierra had been cheating on you with him."

"What?" Ashton asked, his jaw dropping open.

\----


	5. Chapter 5

"LUCAS!" Michael yelled at his sleeping friend. "WAKE UP!"

After Michael felt the need to shake him awake, Luke woke up to the black haired boy. He nearly jumped, still not used to his dyed hair. "What the hell are you doing? It's, like, five in the morning. And Saturday."

"Well, I'm glad you get to wake up to something as handsome as me," Michael smirked. "And it's actually eight."

"Shut the fuck up. Why are you getting me up anyway? The point of a sleepover after you stayed up until two in the morning is to sleep," Luke grumbled. 

"Because we have to get ready for Ricky's!" Michael said rather loudly, making Luke cringe. It was too early for yelling.

"Really, Michael? The party isn't until eight. Tonight. It is eight in the morning. There's a twelve hour difference there," Luke told him. 

"Your point?" Michael asked.

"Go. Back. To. Bed. You're seriously acting like such a girl right now. I'm going to start calling you Michelle," Luke told him, throwing one of the millions of pillows at the black haired boy. 

"You're such a party pooper, Luke," Michael told him.

"I'm a party pooper because I want to finish sleeping and not start getting ready for a pathetic party that is twelve hours away? I would have to disagree and say that I'm the smart one," Luke argued, taking the pillow that was under his head and put it over his face. "Get off of me before I smother myself."

"Don't go dying on my watch. Jesus, Luke," Michael said, getting off of his best friend. 

Luke smiled under the pillow, hoping that Michael will now shut up long enough for Luke to at least get more than the little sleep he got. Normally, he would be sleeping until noon on a Saturday, but he knew that Michael wouldn't let him do that because he would freak out that the party would be eight hours away and God forbid, they might miss it. 

He couldn't be mad at Michael. The boy was just excited to go to his first high school party and didn't want to miss a second of it. It amused Luke sort of. He was like a teenage girl at a One Direction concert, but it wouldn't be that ear piercing hopefully. Luke was also happy that Michael wasn't like Sierra Clover, Alicia Harris, and whatever other little minions were in there 'Fab Four' clique and literally vlogged it all for Youtube, Instagram, and any other social media that would let the upload their pathetic videos. They did it for anything they were doing, especially when they were going to be going to a party or an event. It got annoying to see his Instagram and Facebook feed filled with their videos.

Michael could be like that, but thankfully, he wasn't.

Luke was surprised at how Michael just shut up like he did. Now that he was awake, there was no way that he was going to go back to sleep. But it was unlike Michael to be quiet for over five minutes. It was like he wasn't even in the room. He was probably just listening to music and scrolling through Twitter or something until Luke would wake up. The kid was like a zombie when he would do something like that. 

Out of curiosity, Luke took the pillow off his head to see what his friend was doing. When he did, he almost had a heart attack and jumped through the roof. Michael was sitting on his bed, staring down at Luke creepily. When Luke got ahold of himself, he launched the pillow at the boy, hitting him in the face. This is a time that Luke wished it would have been filled with a brick or something hard.

"What the fuck, Clifford!?" Luke asked him.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice," Michael chuckled.

"You just gave me a damn heart attack!" Luke told him.

"That's what you get for sleeping in at my house," he smirked.

"Fuck you," Luke grumbled.

\----

Ashton went down to the kitchen to get some food to calm his grumbling stomach. He didn't smell anything cooking, so he knew that he was going to have to live with cereal. He was hoping that Clare had stayed the night like James so they could have her amazing pancakes, but he would just have to wait for another day. 

As he neared the kitchen, he heard someone rustling around. He stopped in his steps, nervous at was behind the door. He knew that Lauren, Harry, and his mum were still asleep; they were never ones to get up past nine unless it was a school day. And he thought that he saw James asleep in the spare bedroom. Was it a burglar? Was he being robbed of his valuable food? 

Before he could jump to anymore conclusions, he tiptoed out to the door to see if Clare's car was parked in the driveway, but only saw James' and his, so he knew that she wasn't going to surprise him and be in there making pancakes like he had hoped. 

He took the umbrella that was in the vase thing next to the door and held it like a bat as he slowly approached the entrance to the kitchen. It was times like these that sucked to be the man of the house. He was scared of this type of shit! He wasn't going to beat someone up with an umbrella without being scared to death. 

When he got to the door, he used the umbrella and stabbed it open, running into the kitchen, ready to beat the intruder. But just as he was going to attack, he heard a scream, which made him scream.

"Ashton, what the hell?!" James yelled.

"Me?! What the hell are you doing in here?!" Ashton asked his cousin.

"I'm in your kitchen. What the hell do you think I'm doing? Building a damn rocketship?" James asked sarcastically.

The two boys stayed quiet for a minute and then busted out laughing. Ashton couldn't believe that he almost beat his cousin with an umbrella. But he knew that James would be the same way. Both boys were very protective when it came to their food. Food is very important.

"Mum will be pleased to know that I survived an umbrella attack this morning," James said when he had somewhat settled down from his hysterics.

"My mum and siblings will be pleased to know I saved their lives from a dangerous food burglar," Ashton laughed, leaning the umbrella against the wall by the door. 

James went back to digging in the fridge and Ashton hopped up on the counter and watched his blonde cousin dig through his food in hopes of finding something he liked. Ashton knew that they, well, Harry, had Cocoa Puffs cereal and he was going to steal a bowl of that since he could just blame James for eating it so Harry wouldn't throw a hissy fit.

"You have no good food, mate. Did you know that?" James said, turning towards Ashton.

"Yeah. Mum doesn't feel that convenient breakfast food is needed. She thinks that we're all five-star chefs," Ashton told the older blonde.

"I mean, you do have Cocoa Puffs. That's pretty gourmet," James shrugged.

"Then eat that. Harry won't mind," Ashton told him.

James shrugged and went to the cabinet where the cereal was and the grabbed two bowls. Ashton looked around the kitchen and his eyes landed on the calendar that was on the refrigerator and saw that the initials 'RO' next to the date. It was Ricky's party tonight. Ashton had been so distracted and having fun with James, that he had forgotten about the party he had been looking forward to for months. The only problem about tonight was that he didn't want to have to ditch James for it. This was most likely his last night before he had to go back to Uni and Ashton wanted to send it with him. Unless...

"James,what were you planning on doing tonight?" Ashton asked, figuring that it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Probably hanging out with you and doing whatever you want," James answered, giving Ashton his cereal.

"How do you feel about going to Ricky's for a party?" he offered, hoping to get a yes. He didn't want to have to choose between the two.

"As in one of Ricky Olson's crazy ass parties?" James asked, a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. 

"That sounds about right," Ashton nodded.

"Fuck yeah I'm in."

\----

Luke and Michael pulled into Ricky's extremely long driveway. There was a young kid wearing a fluorescent green vest and was directing people where to park. "He's exploiting children now? Why am I not surprised?"

"Don't be such a grump, Luke. We're here to have fun," Michael told him. 

There was literally two kinds of people in this world; those who wanted to go to high school parties and those who didn't. 

Luke was the latter. 

All day he was dreading this party. He didn't want to be here and he didn't want any part of this so-called fun, but was only going to suffer through it because he promised Michael he would. He wasn't planning on having any fun though. 

He parked his sorry excuse of a car next to what looked like a brand new BMW. Luke just rolled his eyes at how spoiled kids his age were. If Luke were to get a brand new model of any vehicle, he would have to work his ass off in order to get it, whereas these brats literally got it handed to them on an actual silver platter. It sickened him so much.

"How do I look?" Michael asked as Luke reached for the door handle.

"Like a million bucks," Luke answered, earning an unamused look from Michael. "You look fine. Just get out of the fucking car before I change my mind about this whole damn thing."

The two got out of the vehicle and started to walk towards Ricky's house, which was literally shaking because of the extremely loud music. As they made their way down the driveway, they were stopped by the 5 year old bouncer.

"We're not interested in your boy scout popcorn," Luke said sarcastically, looking down at the young boy.

"May I ask who you two are?" the kid asked, ignoring Luke's comment. 

"I'm Luke Hemmings and this is Michael Clifford," Luke sighed. "We're in the same year as Ricky."

"Names don't ring a bell. Can I see some identification?" he asked. The two got out their wallets and the kid brought a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Caleb, I think we may have a Code Dora. Their two males that claim to be in Ricky's year. One has blonde hair that's steep like a skateboard ramp and the other has black hair that is supposed to resemble bedhead. Might want to warn Ricky."

"Are you serious right now? It's a damn party, not the Grammy's," Luke told the kid, tempted to just drag Michael back to the car and leave.

"Just taking precautions and doing what the boss told me to do," the kid said, taking Luke and Mikey's licenses.

"And your boss thinks that insulting his guests is the smart thing? Sounds like Ricky," Luke scoffed.

"Hey, I get paid 200 bucks for the night. I don't give a shit what Ricky thinks is the smart thing to do. I just want the money," the sassy kid told Luke with cold eyes.

"Watch your language there, skippy. You're, like, five," Michael piped up.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I can't believe you drug me here," Luke grumbled. He knew he was going to hate coming here.

Little did he know, the fun was just getting started.

\----


	6. Chapter 6

Luke and Michael finally walked into Ricky's very full house after twenty minutes of that brat trying to keep them out of the party because they weren't "regulars". It kind of pissed Luke off because he just wanted to go through this party as painlessly as he could. 

"I don't know where the hell to go, Luke," Michael shouted to Luke, who just shrugged.

The two made their way onto the back patio where the people were more spread out. It was amazing to both of them how many people were actually there. They didn't think that many people went to their school. They pushed past the already tipsy and touchy couples, trying to find where they could go and not feel claustrophobic.

"Is this everything you've ever dreamed of?" Luke asked his best friend.

"When I can find where to get a nice glass of ice water, then it will be the best party I have ever been to," Michael answered, looking around at the crowded property.

"Michael, this is the only party you've been to," Luke pointed it out.

"Exactly. That's why it's in the top three," he replied, earning an eyeroll from Luke. "Seriously, do I have to strip in order to get a glass of water around here?"

"Maybe if you go into where the kitchen is, you'll get your wish without having to do your job," Luke said sarcastically, in which Michael returned with an unamused face. "What? Don't give me that face."

"Just lead the way," Michael told him, giving his shoulder a small shove. 

The two went back into the crowded house and pushed their way through their classmates. When they had finally found the entrance to the kitchen, they were surprised when it wasn't crowded with people. The only bunch that was in there was Ricky, Seth Zander, Alec Champyn, Ashton, and some blonde that neither of the two boys have seen before. 

"Michael! You made it! And you brought..." Ricky said happily when he saw the two of them. His friends looked at the two less popular boys, somewhat judgmentally.

"Luke," Luke told Ricky, not expecting Ricky to remember him.

"I heard you boys had some trouble with my little traffic boy out there. He was just trying to see if I would pay him more," Ricky said, laughing. He already sounded drunk. "You guys look like you could use a drink. What do ya want? We got beer and I'm sure Seth would make you a fancy drink with some of the hard liquor."

"Don't bother asking Luke. He's a prude," Ashton scoffed, a series of 'oohs' coming from the other boys.

"I prefer the term smart, but you probably don't know what that word means since you're failing English," Luke spat. Another series of 'oohs' filled the kitchen.

Ashton's eyes filled with hate as he glared at Luke. "At least I have a life and don't spend it watching Netflix."

"I don't use girls for sex," Luke said, smirking at Ashton and crossed his arms. 

Ashton glared at Luke and if looks could kill, Luke would be dead. "That's because you're a faggot."

The room was now quiet and there was so much tension between Luke and Ashton. Luke was insulted by what Ashton had said, but he wasn't going to let that ruin his insult game. "It takes one to know one."

The kitchen was now erupting with the other boys whooping and clearly enjoying the two hating each other. Ashton was literally fuming and would have smoke coming out of his ears if he could. He was so close to going over and beating Luke that James had to nonchalantly hold him back.

Luke was pretty proud of himself for making the supposed king of the school this pissed off. He couldn't help but smile about it. He never thought that he would get the opportunity to make Ashton Irwin fume. It was as if Luke's life goal had been achieved.

"You're a motherfucker, Luke," Ashton hissed, poking my chest as he stormed out of the kitchen.

Luke just smiled, satisfied at his insult war victory.

\----

Ashton and James were in the backyard, the two enjoying a drink under one of the cabana tents. Ashton was still fuming mad about Luke and it didn't help that he was already angry about seeing Sierra trying to grind up on Jack, who was trying to keep her off because he had seen Ashton and he knew that Seth had told him about Sierra cheating.

To be frank, Ashton just wasn't himself tonight. Usually, he was the life of the party. He helped make the parties wild and crazy. But tonight, he was more like the death of the party. It wasn't the wild and crazy Ricky party that it usually was. At least, not yet. 

"Ash, why are you letting that kid get to you? Loosen up," James asked his cousin. He could see the red in Ashton's eyes. He had seen Ashton's friend and Sierra dancing, but he thought that a few drinks would help Ashton forget about it, but now he's fuming about that kid.

"I'm not," Ashton answered.

"You are. Don't let him piss you off because he's not worth it, I promise. Now, where's the party animal Ashton?" James said with a smile, giving Ashton a playful shove on the shoulder. 

"He's not really in the mood," Ashton answered, taking another sip of his beer. "I'm sorry that this isn't the wild and crazy Ricky party that I promised you."

"Eh, the night is still young," James offered, but saw that Ashton really wasn't the happy go-lucky kid that he was used to. "Well, let's go get some more beer and get that Ashton in the mood, yeah?" 

Just as he had said that, Sierra came out of the house, completely drunk, and hanging on some guy. She looked over at Ashton, no remorse as she started to kiss all over the random guy. James looked down at Ashton, now seeing a heartbroken guy instead of angry.

"Alright, maybe we'll need a lot of something a hell of a lot stronger than beer."

\----


	7. Chapter 7

Ashton took another shot of some vodka concoction that James had given him. He was feeling great. He was happy, loose, and was feeling better than he has in a long time. The party was also getting crazier and wilder because his friends were getting more and more drunk as well, which made it all the more great. 

James was grinding on all the hot girls that he could get his hands on, which was the majority of them. He didn't care that they weren't Uni age girls. It's not like he was that much older than them. Plus, he knew that the majority of them would be into the older men thing because what hot girl isn't at that age?

"Ayeeee, Rickaaayyyy," Ashton yelled, on top of the ledge that served as the stair railing.

"Ayeeee, Ashayyyyyy," the drunk Ricky yelled back. 

Everyone was looking up at Ashton, waiting for him to say something completely stupid and meaningless. Ashton took another drink from his plastic cup. "This party will be the wildest and fucking craziest party in the history of parties."

The crowd below cheered and whooped as Ashton threw up his hands carelessly. Luke just looked up at Ashton and rolled his eyes. The kid was beyond wasted and he was a bigger dumbass than he already was. Luke felt a tap on his shoulder and then Michael was shoving a plastic cup in his face. Luke could smell the alcohol from it and he cringed.

"Mikey, you do realize that this has alcohol in it, right?" Luke asked him as Michael took a sip of it.

"Yeah. I had that Seth dude make it. I told him not to put a lot of alcohol in it, which he didn't," Michael told him. Luke just looked at him, not wanting to really risk it. "Come on, Luke. It's one drink that doesn't have that much alcohol in it. We're just going to have this one to wet our whistles and then we'll quit. It won't be that big of deal, Mr. Dramatic." 

"I swear to God if we get into an accident when we leave this dump, I'm going to kill you in the hospital," Luke glared. 

Michael just smirked and shook his head. He held his cup up to toast and Luke tapped his against it. "Cheers, mate."

Luke took a small sip of it, cringing at the slight alcohol taste mixed with the citrus. "I can't believe you're making me drink this."

"Anything for you to loosen up and have a good time," Michael chuckled.

"I couldn't possibly have a good time while I'm surrounded with people that make me cringe at their idiocy every single day," Luke told his friend. 

"And with a little alcohol, it should make it ten times easier," he responded.

\----

"Fuck the woooooooooooooooorld!" Ricky, Ashton, and James yelled as they jumped off of the roof above the diving end of Ricky's crystal clear blue pool.

So far, it was a crazy ass party. They had jumped off of roofs, Ricky went streaking around the party...it was fun as hell. It was exactly what Ashton needed to get his mind off of things, not that the abundance of alcohol in his system wasn't helping with that. 

They didn't even notice that the attendance of the party was going down. They didn't even realize that it was nearly five in the morning. There was still about twenty to thirty people, but they felt like there were hundreds. 

Everyone had filtered inside after Ashton, James, and Ricky started drying themselves off once they got out of the pool. They wondered what was so interesting in there, so they, of course, followed. When they had gotten into the very large living room, there was a big circle of guests sitting on the floor and random furniture, drinking and laughing.

"Dude, where the fuck did everyone go?" Ricky asked James and Ashton. 

"I don't fucking know. Why are they all sitting and being boring?" Ashton asked.

"Good question, bro," James answered, looking at the people confused.

The three walked into the room and Ricky threw up his hands. "What in hell is everyone sitting for?!" 

"We all wanted to play a party game, but didn't know which one," Alicia answered. 

"A party game? Isn't that what they did in the nineties?" James asked.

"You guys were getting fucking annoying, so we wanted to have our own fun," a blonde named Tanya said.

"Well, excuse us for trying to have a good fucking time," Ricky sassed, getting pissed.

"What are the choices?" James asked, dragging Ashton with him over by a few girls. 

"What about 7 Minutes in Heaven?" Alicia suggested. 

"Isn't that a sex game?" Michael leaned over, asking Luke. 

Luke gave him a look. "You're talking to someone who has never been to a party before, let alone play party games that include sex. How would I know?" 

"Well, sorry, Mr. Grumpy Gills," Michael scoffed. 

The two had a few other drinks after the first one, but they weren't drunk. They had spaced them out so they weren't just downing them. Luke didn't want it to be like the movie The Hangover. 

"How do we play?" someone spoke up for Michael and Luke.

"It's kind of like spin the bottle, but a little more rated R. Whoever spins the bottle is going to have to go into a locked room with the person that the bottle lands on and make out, have sex, or something for seven minutes. You can't just sit there and talk because there will be someone at the door to listen. And you get one pass," Alicia explained to everyone. She smirked. "Who wants to play?" 

Everyone whooped and agreed to it. Someone got a bottle and handed it to Alicia, who passed it over to Tanya. "So, I just spin it and even if it's a girl, I have to do something?" 

"Unless you say pass, but that's the only pass you get for the rest of the game," Alicia clarified. 

Tanya nodded and then gave the bottle a weak spin and it landed on one of the soccer players. It didn't really matter because Ashton was pretty sure that Tanya had slept with the majority of the soccer team. She was kind of a slut. 

The bottle gradually got passed down the circle every seven minutes. All the couples that had taken their turns haven't been complaining or coming out upset about it, so it couldn't be that bad. 

\----

About an hour in, it was Ashton's turn. He had been dreading this because Sierra was sitting across the circle from him. He didn't have a pass since he already used it on some guy and he didn't want to have to go into this locked room with her and awkwardly stare at her because they wouldn't do anything considering how things ended. 

Once the two girls were back from the locked room, Ashton set the bottle down on the floor, trying not to let his drunken nerves show about Sierra. He didn't really have to worry about it landing on James either because he was sitting right next to him. Taking a deep breath, he gave the bottle a hard spin. 

He watched as it quickly spun around. When it stopped, he heard people gasp and a few of his friends started to make 'ooh' sounds. He gulped. It can't be Sierra. 

And it wasn't. When he looked up, the bottle was pointing straight at none other than Luke Hemmings. Ashton was too drunk to remember the exchange they had earlier, but he knew that Luke was a guy and he didn't like Luke at all. 

"Come on, boys. You gotta do it," Alicia pressured. 

The two reluctantly got up and walked out of the circle with Seth escorting them to the room. Ashton wanted to beg Seth to let him be an exception to the rules, but that was no use. Seth was going to make them do it because he loved being that dick who wanted people to be embarrassed.

"Have fun, boys," Seth said with a smirk, trying to suppress his laughter since both boys were straight. 

They both went into the small closet that was underneath Ricky's steps. It was a tight squeeze, especially for Luke since he was so broad. He didn't want to do this. Not with Ashton. That asshole didn't deserve to be his first boy kiss.

"Are w-" Luke started, but was cut off with Ashton kissing him roughly. 

Ashton's lips fit perfectly with Luke's, both boys moving in sync. Ashton traced his tongue across Luke's bottom lip, who opened and let the wavy haired boy explore his mouth. Luke's hands tangled in Ashton's damp and wavy hair, pulling the smaller boy closer and basically on his lap. Ashton's hands traveled to the hem of Luke's shirt and then went under, feeling Luke's warm and bare abdomen. Luke's hands fell from Ashton's hair and down to the waistband of Ashton's skinny jeans, in which he lifted up so his fingers were feeling Ashton's bum. 

The two were so lost in kissing each other that they didn't even hear Seth tell them that time was up.

\----


	8. Chapter 8

"Guys, time's up!" Seth yelled, finally loud enough to interrupt the two boys who were lustfully making out with each other. 

The two broke away from each other quickly, Ashton still holding Luke's face in both of his hands while straddling his lap. They just looked at each other with scared eyes, not completely sure of what they had just done. Both boys never thought that they would make out with each other, not in a million years. They originally hated each other and both of them thought - no, knew - that they were for sure both straight. So, it couldn't mean anything. 

Ashton got off of Luke and pushed the now unlocked door open, making Seth stumble after getting hit by the door. Ashton didn't even look at him and rushed back into the living room to his spot next to James. James just looked at him, as if he wanted to ask Ashton what had happened because he knew that Seth wasn't going to bend the rules for them, but judging by the deer-in-headlights look on his face, James was going to save it for when they were alone at Ashton's house. 

\----

The game continued for a bit longer and Ashton was too distracted by his mind to even pay attention to what was going on around him. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, at least, not yet, but he was still in shock at the fact that he had made out with a boy. And that boy had to be Luke Hemmings, one of the few people that he actually couldn't stand. That's what was running through his head and he knew that the embarrassment would happen later on in the day when the fact would sink in.

It was a little after 6:40 when everyone that wasn't passed out throughout the Olson property started to leave. Ashton hurried out of the house, practically dragging James behind him. When Ricky asked why they were rushing out of there, Ashton just blamed it on Clare and said that she would be waking up soon and they didn't want to get in too much trouble, even though Clare knew full well that James and him were going to be at the party. 

Ashton sped home, a bit sobered up from what had happened with Luke, despite the excessive amount that he had drank. He didn't have to worry about James asking him about it because he was passed out in the passenger's seat and Ashton hoped that he was still pretty drunk and wouldn't remember that the game even happened. He was hoping that everyone that was there was that way. 

Clare's car wasn't parked in the drive any longer and it kind of made Ashton happy because he didn't want to have to sneak past more than his mum and siblings, who were all still sound asleep most likely. He was tempted to just leave James to sleep in the car, but he would feel guilty that he got to sleep in a nice and comfortable bed and James had to be stuck in a stuffy and uncomfortable vehicle, so he shook his drunk cousin awake.

"Hey, Ashy," James slurred after a very violent series of shaking. Thankfully, he was still very much drunk.

"We're home. We have to be quiet because everyone else is still asleep," Ashton told him, not even feeling the effects of being drunk much anymore.

After he had gotten James into the guest room successfully, Ashton went into his room and collapsed on his bed, thankful that he was finally home and would hopefully shake off the parts of the night that he could unfortunately remember.

\----

Luke was happy to be leaving Ricky's finally. Michael was relentless in asking what had happened with Ashton in the closet, but Luke just told him that he would talk to him after he got some sleep and advil when he woke up. They had planned on sleeping over at Michael's house since his room was easier than Luke's to sneak into. But Michael seemed to be wide awake, unlike Luke, who wanted to curl up in a warm comforter and go to sleep and forget that he even went to the damn party and made out with none other than Ashton Irwin in a God damned closet. 

That's what he couldn't fathom. Luke never thought that he would ever have or want to make out with a boy, but he did just over an hour ago and he couldn't believe that he did. He's always been attracted to girls, minus certain Internet celebrities that would turn any sane male gay. 

It was his first ever party, he made out with a boy, and he was never going to one ever again.

It was as simple as that. No matter how much Michael would beg him to go to another one, he was going to say no before Michael would be able to finish the sentence. Not just because of the Ashton thing, but because he absolutely hated it. Luke didn't like the drinking, the socializing, the loud music, the drunks, the girls grinding their sweaty bodies on him when he clearly didn't want to dance. It was all just disgusting and not fun to him. He would rather have rotted in his bed, watching Netflix or something that he actually enjoyed. Partying was not one of those things. 

Once they were at Michael's house, Luke let out a deep sigh, happy to be somewhere where he can hopefully get a few hours rest and a shower so he wouldn't have to go home looking tired as hell and smelling like a keg of beer was poured on him. Or that a boy that he doesn't have the time of day for had made out with him in a small and claustrophobic closet. 

"Why are you acting like such a party pooper?" Michael asked, so full of energy that it made Luke cringe. 

"Because I'm tired and I want to go to sleep," Luke answered him simply.

"Lame excuse. It's because of the whole Ashton thing, isn't it? What happened in there anyway? It's not like either of you would make out with each other or anything in the first place because you're both straight," Michael scoffed. 

"No, it isn't the Ashton thing. I could give a shit less about that," Luke said, only half lying. It did bug him. Why would Ashton have initiated something like that if he was so straight? But more importantly, why would Luke have went along with it and kissed back if he was straight too? "Can we just go inside now? I'm starting to get a headache."

Michael just rolled his eyes at his 'boring' best friend. "Fine."

They got out and snuck up into Michael's old treehouse that was right across from his bedroom window. Michael went first with crawling out onto the branch and going into his window and then Luke did, feeling a wash of relief when he was finally in the safety and secludedness of Michael's bedroom. 

"Can I borrow clothes from you for when I go home? These ones smell disgusting. Like rotton feet," Luke asked his black haired best friend. 

"Yerp," Michael answered, going into his closet and tossing Luke a jumper and pair of gray basketball shorts. 

Luke set the clothes down on the dresser by the door and grabbed a spare pillow and blanket from Michael's trundle bed, pulling out the bottom mattress. He curled up in the blanket, not even caring that he wasn't even comfortable and fell into a nice and much wanted sleep.

\----


	9. Chapter 9

James had left back for Uni later that afternoon, leaving Ashton to be alone and do things by himself again. Unlike other times that James would visit, Ashton actually wanted James to leave. Not because he was sick of him or anything like that, but because he needed to be alone because his mind was so clouded and confused at the moment. 

For the most part, he had avoided his family and his phone that was constantly dinging with text messages all day. He didn't want to know what any of his friends were saying because he knew that they were probably asking him about how it was kissing a boy. Ashton knew his friends; they would be making fun of him and holding it over his head for God knows how long. 

In all honesty, the whole make-out-session-with-Luke was really throwing Ashton for a loop. It wasn't just because he kissed a boy, he figured he would do something along those lines sooner or later because he does a lot of dumb shit when he's drunk. The part that was throwing him was the fact that he didn't exactly hate it. He actually found it somewhat enjoyable. 

That scared Ashton. It scared the shit out of him. He wasn't gay, he couldn't be. He's always liked girls and liked kissing them and found boobs amazing. He's never liked a guy or necessarily was attracted to them. But he enjoyed kissing Luke, who was a boy. 

Was Ashton thinking into this? Probably. But he has the right to! He never has kissed a guy until last night and he found it odd that he enjoyed it. It scared the fuck out of him and he didn't want to show his face because of it. 

He was already going to be the talk of the school tomorrow for his breakup with Sierra since Jack had pushed him to the edge. Now, he was also going to be the talk of the school for making out with Luke and he knew that gossip artists were probably going to blow it all out of proportion, saying that Ashton actually liked Luke and that he was gay and all of that crap. 

But what if they were actually right?

\----

Luke was sitting on his laptop, typing up his paper for his English class tomorrow. He started hours ago and he should've been finished by now since Luke was usually a quick typer and could edit and do everything within an hour to an hour and a half, but today, it's taken him over two hours. 

He wasn't distracted by the telly because it was turned off for that specific reason and the music he had on wasn't bothering him as he usually had to have it on because it helped him work faster. As he sat there with his fingertips resting gently on top of the keyboard, not knowing what to type next. His mind drifted to the scene in the closet. He's been trying to put it out of his mind and not think about it all day, but it continues sneaking up when he least expects it. 

Luke would say that it wasn't bothering him. Hell, he wanted to think that it wasn't bothering him. Kissing a boy wasn't exactly on his bucket list and he didn't think he would ever do it. He wanted to just forget that it happened but he just couldn't. It was going to keep eating at him until he could find a way to put it to rest. 

He had never kissed anyone before Ashton, so he couldn't necessarily compare it to anything to know if it was an amazing kiss, but he thought that it was good and he thought Ashton was a good kisser. It sounded messed up for a straight guy such as Luke to think that a fellow straight guy like Ashton was a good kisser, but it was true. Ashton had made the make out session enjoyable for Luke and it was a hell of a lot less disgusting than Luke had thought it would've been.

That's what confused Luke a bit. He didn't know if he was supposed to be thinking or feeling that way about it since he was straight. But he didn't know if he was fully straight now that he thought about it. He's never found another guy hot or had the urge to kiss one, but he found that making out with Ashton was actually fun and he really enjoyed it. More than he should have. 

\----

Ashton sat in his black Lexus when he got to the school that Monday morning, not really wanting to be faced with people. He hadn't slept the night before because the whole Luke thing had kept him awake. He also knew that everyone would be talking about it, along with his and Sierra's breakup. If the school would have a TMZ like show, Ashton would be the top story. 

He was tempted to just turn around and skip since he didn't feel all that amazing anyway, but he knew that he would pay the consequences from homework later and he couldn't run from his problems because they would just be waiting for him tomorrow. He knew that he had to face the music. 

Before Ashton shut off his car, he looked down at the clock, seeing that he still had a good twenty minutes until the first bell rang. He didn't want to have to sit in his car for much longer because the chances were good that he would fall asleep and stay there until the end of the day. 

Twisting the key off, Ashton swung open the door and grabbed his bag from the passenger seat as he quickly stood up. Thankfully, he had his headphones strategically threaded under his clothing so the buds were hanging out of the neck of his dark sweater. He put the two in and pushed the button on the headphone cord and his phone started playing an Elvis song that he had forgotten he had downloaded. He cranked the volume so he couldn't hear any of the chatter that was coming from the people that were watching - and obviously talking about - him as he walked into the school. 

Ashton expected that his fellow schoolmates would be like the paparazzi and watch him like a hawk, knowing every move he would make and at what time it was made. He didn't know if people around him were talking to him because he had Elvis' voice filling his ears so he wouldn't need to hear their meaningless comments. 

He got to his locker, getting the things he needed for his first class out of it. He kept his earbuds plugged in, ignoring people that were passing by and giving him playful punches or shoves. Ashton didn't want to deal with people. He wanted to ignore them for the entire day. 

When Ashton went to turn and take off to his first class, he was greeted by a black haired guy staring him down, causing Ashton to yelp. He ripped his earbuds out. "What the fuck, dude?"

"I should be asking you the same damn thing," the black haired guy said. Ashton looked at him confused. He didn't know who this character was, but he knew that he had been with Luke the night of the party.

"What? Why? I don't even know who you are," Ashton told him.

"I'm Michael. You don't know me, but you know my best friend quite well," Michael spat, scowling at Ashton. 

Ashton was slightly confused. He didn't know this kid from Adam, let alone know who the hell his best friend was. "How am I supposed to know who your best friend is when I didn't even know who you were? Are you friends with Sierra coming to beat me or something?"

"Hell no! My best friend is Luke Hemmings, or the guy that got your tongue shoved down his throat on Saturday night," Michael said, earning a slap across the face from Ashton. "What the fuck, dude?"

"Do you mind keeping it down? Jesus," Ashton told him and then shot him a look. "And don't steal my line again."

Michael rolled his eyes, clearly not impressed with Ashton. "Whatever, asshole. Anyway, what the hell did you do to Luke in that fucking cl-"

"Are you fucking deaf?" Ashton hissed and then grabbed Michael's arm, dragging him to the only bathroom he knew wouldn't have anyone in it. 

"What the hell are we doing in here? If you're going to come at me like you did to Luke, you can think again, my friend," Michael warned, stepping away from Ashton once they were in the empty bathroom. 

"You wish," Ashton scoffed. "Now, what the fuck were you saying?" 

"Before I was rudely pulled into an abandoned bathroom by some asshole that could potentially be a pedophile, I was asking what the hell you did to Luke in that damn closet?! He's been acting weird as fuck for the past two days and he won't tell me what the hell happened in there or why he's acting so weird," Michael told him.

Ashton rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "And you came to me why? Thinking I could solve your petty problems? Why the hell would I know what's wrong with him? I've spoken to him twice and I can't stand him. Therefore, I don't give a shit whether he's acting normal or insane or whatever. Now that you've wasted my time, leave me alone."

"He was acting perfectly normal before you decided to snog him in a closet," Michael pointed out. "That's why I came to you. I want to know what the hell you did to him. Did you fucking rape him or what?"

"Seriously? That's what the hell this is about? You think I raped Luke?" Ashton asked in disbelief, shaking his head. "I don't have time for this shit."

"You said you hate him, so that gives you some type of motive. You want to see him suffer," Michael continued. 

Ashton turned around and pushed Michael against the tile wall hardly, pinning him there and sticking his long finger in his face. "Listen, I am not going to stand here and listen to you try and accuse me of raping Luke. I wouldn't touch the kid like that if it would save my life. I followed the rules and played the God damn game. I have and always will be straight and having sex with Luke Hemmings or any other man will never happen and has never happened. So, if you're going to stand here and continue accusing me of raping some dumbass, supposedly perfect asshole, you can meet me in the parking lot after school and I will personally kick your ass so damn hard, your microscopic excuse for balls will be in your God damn throat. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," Michael squeaked, actually terrified of Ashton for a brief second.

"Am I going to have to beat your ass or not?" Ashton asked.

"No, sir."

\----


	10. Chapter 10

Luke was sitting in English class, alone as usual. Unfortunately, they still had to be paired with their peer review partners from Friday for some reason. It wouldn't be so bad if it was anyone other than Ashton. Especially after what happened on Saturday. He's already had girls come up and ask him if Ashton was really a good kisser, in which he didn't respond to. He's also had his fair share of gay shamers, even though he wasn't gay, but they didn't seem to understand that.

Other than that, he was having a better day than he thought he would. He thought that he would get more attacked than what he had been, so he was happy that he was proved wrong. Other than the other partygoers, Michael and him acted like the Ashton thing never happened, which was exactly what Luke wanted. He wanted to forget about it because it was meaningless and wouldn't amount to anything. Luke was straight and he was skeptical, but he was fairly sure Ashton was too.

He was disrupted from his thoughts when someone sat down next to him. He looked over at Ashton nonchalantly, seeing that the boy looked like absolute hell. It wasn't the normal I'm-the-hottest-guy-in-the-school-or-so-I-think look that he usually had and he also looked exhausted and rather crabby. But he felt a bit sorry for him for some reason that he didn't know why.

"Why are you fucking staring at me?" Ashton snapped, his tired hazel eyes snapping to Luke. 

"Because you look like death just warmed over. Are you okay?" Luke asked, figuring that it couldn't hurt to be nice to him. It was also just in his nature. 

"Gee, thanks. Remind me to come to you if I ever need compliments," Ashton sassed, rolling his eyes and put his head down on his arms. "Why do you care anyway?" 

"If you have a highly contagious and lethal disease, I would like to know because I am sitting next to you an-" Luke stopped himself, even though Ashton probably didn't realize where he was going with the next sentence. That's how out of it he probably was.

"The only highly contagious and lethal disease I have is exhaustion," Ashton responded, his words muffled by his arms. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

Luke furrowed his brow in confusion. "What? Nothing. Why?"

"Because you're acting too happy and shit for a Monday," Ashton told him. 

"I'm sorry. I guess I was just having a good day. Oh, and I didn't drink myself into a two day hangover," Luke sassed, starting to get irritated with Ashton and his negativity. 

"Excuse me for trying to have a good time," Ashton snapped at him.

"Oh, and having a good time also includes having to shove your tongue down my throat?" Luke questioned, happy to hopefully get this straightened out that he was, in fact, as straight as a board.

Ashton sent him a glare so hard that Luke felt threatened for a split second. "Shut the fuck up."

 

"Well, it's true. If that's what you consider a good time, then you're ob-" 

Luke was cut off by Ashton slapping him across the face and then covering his mouth. He knew that a few of the people that they sat by were staring, which made him kind of uncomfortable because he knew that they could take this way out of context and start telling him that he was kinky or some shit.

"What is it with you and your weird ass friend having big ass mouths?" Ashton hissed. "If you want to talk about this so bad, meet me out back by the beat up part of the fence after school."

Luke nodded, but Ashton just glared at him instead of moving his hand. Sick of being silenced, Luke stuck his tongue out and licked his palm, which caused the boy to retreat his hand with a disgusted look. "I'll only meet you there if you promise that you're not going to attack me again." 

"What the fuck? Isn't it obvious that I am fucking straight?!" Ashton asked, sick of all of the rumors and jokes that were being made about them. 

"Actually-"

"Don't fucking answer that, you twat," Ashton spat.

\----

Ashton ditched his friends and hurried out back to the fence, happy that none of them even realized that he was gone. He was so sick of their shit. All day they had been harassing him about making out with Luke and was pretty sure that Seth was the one who decided on starting some bullshit rumors about him. Ditching them was the best thing he could do. 

But then he realized he was ditching them to talk to Luke. During English, he got a weird feeling in his stomach when he was talking to him and now he was slightly feeling it again as he waited for the boy. He didn't know what it was since he felt nothing but hate and dislike for the boy. It was probably embarrassment. Hopefully it was embarrassment. 

It started sprinkling out and Ashton threw up the hood on his jacket, hoping that the stupid smart ass would hurry up before it began to full on pour. That's the last thing that Ashton needed on this already shitty day. 

"Didn't think that you'd show up."

Ashton looked up, his breath hitching when he saw Luke walking towards him. He looked hot with his...what the hell was he thinking?! He's straight! He doesn't think Luke looks hot!

"Why wouldn't I? If it gets you to shut up," Ashton responded, hurrying to put his badass front back up.

"Okay, so what do you want?" Luke asked, leaning against the fence, looking hot - dammit!

"I want to get one thing fucking clear," Ashton started, looking into Luke's dreamy and cl - fuck. "I am straight. I like girls, not guys. I didn't enjoy kissing you and that fact will not change."

"It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself instead of me," Luke pointed out, chuckling.

Ashton glared at him harder. Fucking Hemmings. "I don't like you. I actually hate you."

"Oh really? I would've thought differently if you would've said that in the closet," Luke sassed.

Ashton stared at Luke, not even caring anymore as he grabbed his face, pulling him towards him as he smashed their lips together. It was just as it was on Saturday night, which wasn't at all disappointing and it confused Ashton again, but he didn't care and just kept their mouths together. It also confused him that Luke wasn't pulling away when he had claimed to be straight too. It's not like he had that strong of grip on him. 

Finally, Ashton pulled away when it started downpouring. Luke just looked at him with his jaw dropped, not believing what had just happened and why he didn't pull away sooner. Ashton just looked at the now-soaked Luke, feeling tears in his eyes for some unknown reason.

"See? Nothing. I hate you." 

\----


	11. Chapter 11

Luke stood in shock as he watched Ashton storm off in the pouring rain. Again, Ashton had kissed him and again, Luke hadn't thought it was disgusting at all. He was actually somewhat happy that it happened again. But it confused him because he didn't understand why Ashton had done it in the first place. It's not like he asked him to do it to prove anything. He just went for it.

It still left Luke confused on his own sexuality though. He was straight and didn't want to kiss other boys, but when it came to Ashton, he didn't mind kissing him and wouldn't complain if he did. He had so many questions, but didn't know the answers to any of it, obviously. He didn't want to talk to any of his family about it because he didn't know if they would be accepting of it or if they would find it in themselves to listen to him because they would be too busy trying to convince him how wrong it was if they turned out to be homophobic. 

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he hurried through the pouring rain to his car, figuring that the only person he could talk to and not be judged would be Michael. He got into his junker, not caring that he was getting his seat soaked because it was whatever. It wasn't like he could ruin it anymore than it already was. 

\----

"Luke, holy shit, did you walk here or something?" Michael asked, gaping at his sopping wet best friend.

"That's what I came here to explain to you," Luke told him, wishing that Michael would just let him into the house so he wouldn't freeze to death on his porch.

"What? That you're soaking wet, because I can see that and you wouldn't have to say anything," Michael sassed. 

Luke narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly, Karen showed up behind Michael, cutting Luke off. "Oh my goodness, Luke! You're soaked! Dammit, Michael. Let the poor kid in before he turns into prune!"

Karen slapped Michael on the arm, making the black haired boy rub it because she must've hit the fragile kid that hard. She put her hand on Luke's shoulder and led him into the house, not caring that he was getting the shiny wood floor all wet. 

"Michael, go get some clothes for him," Karen commanded her. After he took off to his room, Karen grabbed a folded up blanket and wrapped it around Luke's shoulders. "I don't know how you've put up with him for as long as you have."

"Eh, there's times I want to shove him in front of a bus," Luke chuckled, cuddling his wet body into the dry blanket. 

Michael came down the stairs with a pile of clothes in his hands. He went to hand them to Karen, but she slapped his hands away. "I'm not the one who's soaking wet."

He just rolled his eyes, turning and giving Luke the clothes. Luke thanked both of them and went to the bathroom to change. He peeled his wet clothes off, the scene with Ashton playing over and over again in his head. The thing that Luke wondered was why Ashton had felt the need to kiss him again if the boy was claiming that he was straight. And then he was trying to prove that he didn't feel anything with it. How would Luke feel what he was feeling? That's literally impossible. Sure, Luke taunted him a little, but he didn't think that would cause the kid to kiss him. 

Once Luke was in the sweatpants and tank top that Michael had given him, he grabbed one of the bath towels that was hanging on the bar and rubbed his now flat and wet hair, causing it to be spiked in every direction and was still damp. He grabbed the wet clothes off the floor, making sure that he wasn't holding them onto the dry shirt, and threw the towel he used on his hair on the floor where they had left a wet spot, wiping it up with his foot. When he was finished, he added the wet towel to his pile of saturated clothes and walked back out into the living room where Karen was sitting on the couch, looking at her iPad. 

"Where do you want me to put these?" Luke asked her, referring to the clothes in his hand. 

She smiled, putting the iPad down on the end table, standing up and taking the clothes from Luke. "I'll put them in the dryer for you. They should be good between forty minutes and an hour. Michael's in his room, being the wonderful host I raised him to be." 

Luke thanked her again and hurried up the stairs into Michael's room so he could talk to him. Michael was sitting in his desk chair, his beats over his ears as he played a videogame on his desktop with his back to Luke. The blonde just rolled his eyes, grabbing one of the pillows from Michael's unmade bed and launched at the back of the boy's head, causing Michael to turn around and glare at him after he was hit. 

"The fuck, Hemmings? My guy died because of you," Michael glared, ripping off his headphones. 

"It's Sims, dipshit. You can only die if you get in an oven fire," Luke chuckled.

Michael rolled his eyes, pausing the game and putting the headphones on the desk as he turned his chair towards him. "So, what the hell did you show up to my house for?"

"I needed to talk to you about something," Luke told him, biting his lip out of nerves. 

"Okay...what?" he asked, looking nervously at his best friend. 

"Ashton."

Luke proceeded to tell Michael everything finally, feeling slightly embarrassed, but knew that Michael wasn't judging him about it. He was trying to understand and that's all that Luke could ask for from him. After he was done, Michael sat there, processing the information that Luke had told him. Luke knew that Michael wouldn't have all the answers, if he would have any, but he was only looking for someone to try and help him figure them out, not know the exact answer. 

"Well, both of you are either some type of gay, whether it be bi or full-on gay. Hell, you could just be gay for each other," Michael told him. "From what you told me, I didn't see where it was necessary that he had to kiss you after school today."

"So, you're saying that I could be Ashton-sexual?" Luke asked, getting a nod in return. "But how? I can't stand him."

"Love does mysterious things, my young grasshopper," Michael said, trying to act all mysterious and scholar-like. "The only way you are going to get any of this figured out is if you talk to Ashton without fighting with him like you did today. That's the only way you guys are going to find out anything. I think that he is definitely confused and is in deep, deep denial. Along with you, but you're more open minded about it, where he just hates the fact that he could be gay and is trying to talk himself out of it." 

\----


	12. Chapter 12

Ashton sat in his room, looking out the window at the rain. He couldn't believe that he had kissed Luke again. What the hell was he trying to prove? Just because he didn't feel anything towards Luke, doesn't mean that Luke doesn't like him. How was Luke going to feel if Ashton felt anything anyway? That's, like, physically impossible. 

Either way, Ashton hated Luke. He kissed Luke to prove to himself that he was not gay. There was no way that he could be gay because he liked girls. The only reason Ashton made out with Luke in the first place was because of a stupid party game, not because he had a deep and undying love for him. Luke was an asshole and Ashton couldn't stand him, so why would he feel anything but hatred towards him?

There was a knock on his door and he reluctantly got up from the comfort of his bed to open it. He was faced with his little sister for once, making him get an odd expression on his face. Lauren barely ever came to his room, let alone knock when she did.

"Hey, kiddo," Ashton said, looking down at her. "What's up?"

"There's someone downstairs for you," she told him.

He looked at her confused again. She knew his friends. If they stopped at his house, she would just yell at him that they were here and let them in. Why was she acting all normal all of a sudden?

"Well, look at you becoming Miss Grown-up. You know you don't have to act all motherly if it's Ricky or Seth or Jack or Alec, okay? Well, if it's Jack, just ignore him or kick him in the balls," Ashton told his little sister, turning the light in his room off and followed her down the hall.

"It's actually none of them," Lauren said flatly. 

Ashton quirked an eyebrow. "Who is it then?" 

"I don't know. He didn't say his name; all he did was ask if you were home and if he could talk to you," she told him.

He couldn't think of anyone who wanted to necessarily talk to him, other than Jack begging him for forgiveness or some shit that he didn't have the time of day for. But wouldn't Lauren have just said it was Jack? She never would cover for him. She didn't like Ashton's friends enough to cover for them. 

"Before I answer this door, tell me if they gave off the I'm-going-to-kill-your-family vibe," Ashton asked, stopping both of them in their tracks.

"No, not really. He was actually really nice and looked kind of cuddly," Lauren told him with a small smile. It was so obvious that she had developed a small crush on this mystery visitor. 

"Don't get attached, Lauren. He could be Satan himself," Ashton said with a small laugh as he walked towards the front door. He opened it and his happy expression fell. "Well, I was right. It's certainly Satan."

"Ashton, I think we need to talk to each other," Luke said, looking at his mortal enemy with soft eyes. 

"What the hell do you possibly want to talk about? I thought we made this clear this afternoon. I. Do. Not. Like. You. I am straight. Nothing will ever happen, so you can get rid of your little man crush on me. It's creepy," Ashton told him, already fed up with him. He went to close the door, but Luke stopped it with his foot. 

"That was not talking. That was you trying to convince yourself and then kissing me for some reason," Luke told him, making Ashton fume. "Please, Ashton. We need to have a civil conversation about this. I know we hate each other and everything, but it has to be done."

Ashton rolled his eyes, not wanting to let the guy in out of spite, but at the same time he knew that he was right. This had to be done. Ashton moved out of the way, opening the door wider and Luke walked in, lowering his umbrella down.

"You have a nice house," Luke complimented, causing Ashton to roll his eyes out of habit. 

"Yeah, I know, it's great," Ashton said. Lauren then walked into the room, looking between Luke and Ashton, confused. 

"Um, do...Ashton?" Lauren asked Ashton, not wanting to be rude. Ashton just nodded.

"Hi, I'm Luke," the blonde introduced, walking over to Lauren and sticking his hand out. 

Lauren got a big smile on her face and she proudly took Luke's hand in her own, giving it a proper shake. She was crushing on the boy and it made Ashton want to hurl at her poor taste in man. "I'm Lauren, Ashton's amazing little sister."

"Shut up, Lauren. Can you go check on Harry? Make sure he hasn't died? Clare and mum would kill us if he did," Ashton instructed her, wanting to get this chat over with so he can get Luke out of his house. Once Lauren was out of the room, Ashton turned back to Luke. "Okay. Speak. What the hell do you want?" 

"Can we sit...?" Luke asked, trying to be civil towards Ashton, but was quickly getting aggrivated at him. 

"Fine, but then speak, dammit," Ashton said, going over and plopping down in the cushy leather recliner. 

Luke took a seat on the couch, not really sure how to begin. He couldn't just come out and tell Ashton that he was in denial and that he was actually gay. He knew that it wouldn't end well because Ashton already hated him. There wasn't much keeping the shorter boy from attacking Luke. 

"I'm waiting," Ashton pressured.

"Whatever happened in that closet...I don't know, but ever since, I think both of us have been a little confused," Luke started, seeing Ashton visibly tense.

"I'm not fucking confused, Luke. I told you that I'm straight," Ashton said sharply. "You can stop trying to convince that I'm gay because I'm not. You will not turn me either. Listen, I get it, you're having your sexuality issues and were hoping that I was too, but I'm not. I am straight."

"You're in denial, Ashton," Luke said bluntly, figuring sugarcoating it wasn't going to get them anywhere at all. 

"In denial of what?! That I made out with you at the party?! Yeah, I did! I know I did! Everyone does! I am not in denial of anything, Hemmings! Who are you to tell me that I am in denial of my sexuality?!" Ashton yelled, seriously pissed off at this asshole already.

"I didn't say what you were in denial of, Ashton," Luke pointed out, his voice soft.

Ashton just sat there, heat rushing to his cheeks as he stared at Luke. He didn't know what to say to that because he couldn't deny that he did it. The last thing he needed was for Luke to know that he had been questioning his sexuality. He felt the overwhelming urge to pounce on Luke and beat the living shit out of him, but there was something stopping him. 

"It's what you were implying," Ashton squeaked, knowing that it was a weak argument.

"What if I wasn't? Ashton, I know you don't want to hear this, but by the way that you are acting and getting so angry, it's obvious that you're either bi-curious or gay," Luke told him, his voice remaining calm and soft. 

Ashton looked at him with hard eyes. "Fuck you, Luke. You can try to tell me that I'm gay and all of that shit, but I know that I'm not. You're not going to get in my damn head and try and convince me otherwise."

"I don't have to convince you that you're gay because I know it. You have to accept yourself and stop denying it. You're never going to be happy otherwise," Luke told him. 

"Get the fuck out of my damn house, Luke! Right fucking now!" Ashton yelled angrily, jumping up from the recliner. "I am not going to fucking sit here and listen to you lie and try and feed me full of this gay bullshit! I'm straight! Do I have to tattoo on my damn forehead for you to realize that we will never happen?!" 

Luke didn't say anything and just got up from the couch, walking towards the door. As he passed Ashton, he stopped, looking into the boy's angry hazel eyes. "Only a person in denial would deny the truth."

\----


	13. Chapter 13

Talking to Ashton about his sexuality was hard, especially since he was stubborn and wouldn't listen to Luke. He kept saying that Luke was trying to insult him and all of this bullshit. Luke wasn't trying to insult him or make fun of him; he was just talking to Ashton to get whatever it was that was going on between them sorted out.

Luke knew that he shouldn't have just shown up at Ashton's house, but he knew that there was really no other way that he could do it. He didn't want to do it during English or anywhere at school because of the fear of one of those douche bags overhearing. He figured being in the comforts of home at either his house or Ashton's house would make it easier. Obviously, Ashton wasn't going to bother showing up to Luke's because he didn't seem to have the time of day for him, so Luke took matters into his own hands and went over to Ash's. 

"Hemmo! How'd it go?" Michael yelled from what Luke imagined was downstairs. 

"Come upstairs, for Christ's sake! I'm not going to yell for my entire household to hear!" Luke yelled back at him.

Luke heard as Michael clomped up the stairs noisily. He just rolled his eyes, not expecting any less from the kid. The door swung open and Michael walked in, going to Luke's bed and collapsed on it. Typical Clifford. 

"Yes, Michael, you may use my bed. Thanks for asking," Luke sassed. 

"Thanks, bro," Michael responded. "Anyway, how did it go with Mr. Denial?"

"He's still in denial," Luke answered. 

"Really?"

Luke spun his desk chair to face his best friend. "You actually thought that he was going to listen to me and just snap out of the denial? I mean, I did too, but I also knew that wasn't going to be likely."

"Well, yeah, I kind of did! He was at home, away from his dick friends. I thought that you would be able to get through to him after a shit ton of prying," Michael told him. 

"He literally kicked me out of his house because he didn't want to hear my lies, which I do not tell," Luke explained. 

"You've got yourself a fiesty one," Michael smirked.

"Bitch, please. I hate Ashton Irwin with every ounce of my being. He is not mine and he never will be because I hate him," Luke explained to Michael, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, really? So, you're saying that it's just your barely existent good nature trying to help him figure out that he's not completely straight?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, basically," Luke answered. 

"You do realize that you're in denial too, right?" the black haired boy sighed. 

"I'm not denying anything," Luke replied, confused. 

"You're denying that you like Ashton."

"I said I hate him," Luke clarified.

"Do you really, Lucas? Do you?" Michael questioned, trying to be all dramatically quizzical. Luke just quirked his eyebrow. 

"Really, dumbass, really," he answered flatly.

Michael narrowed his eyes at him. "You ruined the moment. And you also speak lies, Mr. Abe Lincoln."

"How and why the hell do you know the name of an American president from the 1800s when you don't pay attention and are Australian?" Luke asked, actually taken aback by Michael's hidden knowledge. 

"Are you kidding? I have no idea who the hell that is. Someone commented it on an Instagram post and I decided that I'd remember it for future reference like right now," Michael admitted, causing Luke to forget about being impressed. 

"I should've known it was something stupid like that," Luke said, rolling his eyes. 

\----

The next day at school, Ashton had been glaring at Luke every chance he could. It didn't bother Luke much, other than the fact that he wished Ashton would just listen to what he was trying to say before going on the defense. Luke understood that being told that might be overwhelming and not something one would necessarily want to hear, but at the same time, he thought it would be better Ashton be made aware of it.

Luke walked into English, dreading the class because he didn't want to have to sit and feel Ashton's eyes burn into his skull for the entire period. He wanted to tell Ashton to grow up, but he knew that would just give the kid another reason to hate him and insult him the next time he got a chance. 

Luke was sitting at the table, tapping the eraser of his mechanical pencil to the beat of The 1975 song that was stuck in his head, when Ashton walked into the class alone oddly. He had been doing that for the past few days and it wasn't like him since he always traveled in his posse. The boy walked down the row, dressed in all black again, with a scowl on his face. Luke knew it was because of him. There wasn't much the blonde could do about it except act like he didn't notice. 

"Move your shit," Ashton sneered, not even waiting for Luke to move his folder over before pushing it.

"You could at least say please," Luke scoffed, knowing that today was going to be a grand day with this peer review thing since Ashton seemed to be in such a peachy mood. "Didn't your mother teach you manners?"

"I don't have to be polite when I talk to a dick face like you," Ashton snapped, glaring at Luke. 

"Last time I checked, my face didn't have a dick on it. I'm not Squidward for Christ's sake," Luke sassed. It was rude, but Luke found joy in pushing Ashton's buttons. 

"Would you just shut the fuck up?" Ashton finally said. "I've had enough assholes and idiots today. I don't need to deal with you."

"Too bad because I'm still, unfortunately, your partner for this," Luke told him, smirking at the boy who was just narrowing his hate-filled hazel eyes at him. 

"All we're doing is reading each other's papers. Don't talk to me, I won't talk to you. Starting now," Ashton told him, his tone sharp.

"Why can't I talk to you?" Luke asked, putting up a fake pout.

"Because I don't want to listen to the bullshit that pours from your mouth," Ashton told him flatly, not bothering to even look at the blue-eyed boy. 

"I don't speak bullshit," Luke pointed out.

"Bullshit."

\----


	14. Chapter 14

It had been about a week since Luke had talked to Ashton and tried to tell him that he was gay. And ever since then, Ashton had been angry and pretty closed off. It was a Tuesday and he had even skipped the party he was supposed to go to on Saturday. He has never skipped a party in his entire partying life. But just today, he had realized that maybe Luke had a point. He thought that it would maybe be a good idea to listen to him and hear him out. But at the same time, Ashton was positive that Luke was wrong about him being gay. He was probably just mad about Luke trying to give him that label just because he kissed him and probably wanted to get with him. But he was so torn, he didn't know what side he should believe. He felt like he was split right down the middle.

Ashton plopped on the couch, hitting play so he could watch Get Hard on Netflix. It may have been a newer movie and he may idolize Will Ferrell, but despite all of that, it was one of his favorite movies. Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell made the best comedy team. He loved the movie so much, this was his eighth time in the past two weeks to watch it. He also just needed a good laugh.

Just as he bursted out laughing at one of the funniest parts, there was a loud rapping on the front door. Huffing, Ashton hit pause on the movie and got up from his cozy spot on the couch. He dragged his feet going to the door and didn't even bother looking through the peep hole, which he regretted doing the minute he opened the door. 

"If you dare slam this door in my face, I'm going to kick your ass so damn far, you'll be in New York City," Michael threatened. 

Ashton just rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you want?"

"You and I need to have a chat," he said sternly. 

"Did Luke send you?" Ashton asked, rolling his eyes. 

"No. Luke has no idea I'm even here," Michael told him. "But that doesn't matter. You're going to shut your damn mouth and you're going to listen to me."

Ashton would've usually just smarted off or ignored him, but Michael actually looked intimidating when he had said that and Ashton was scared that if he didn't do it, the boy would beat him to a pulp. Without any words spoken, Ashton opened the door farther to let the black haired boy in. Thankfully, nobody in his family was home, meaning they wouldn't question why or who Michael was. 

"Have a seat wherever you want," Ashton said, gesturing to the furniture. 

Michael sat in one of the chairs and Ashton sat where he had been sitting before Michael came. He wanted so badly to just turn the movie on and forget that Michael was even there, but the goodness in him knew that it was rude, even if he didn't much care for Michael. 

"Okay. Let's get this over with. What do you want?" Ashton asked. 

"You're gay," Michael blurted. 

Ashton felt his blood begin to boil. He wasn't going to go through this again. "Excuse me?"

"You, Ashton Irwin, are as gay as Tyler Oakley," Michael said.

Ashton quirked his eyebrow, not knowing who Tyler Oakley even was. "Who?" 

"He's a Youtuber that's very flamboyant," Michael explained.

"So, you are accusing me of being flamboyantly gay when I'm the exact opposite? Do I look gay to you? I'm straight, dammit!" Ashton yelled. 

"Go ahead. Sit here and give me every reason that you think you're straight. I've got time," Michael shrugged, which made Ashton even angrier. 

"My girlfriend cheated on me and I can't move on from her, I have no interest in boys, I want Sierra back. What more do I need to fucking say to tell you that I'm not gay?!" Ashton yelled angrily. 

"You're in denial, Ashton. I'm not accusing you of being gay, I'm helping you realize it," Michael said to him in a calming tone. 

"I'm not in denial of anything, jackass. I don't need realizing of anything. I am not gay, bisexual, or whatever else kinds of sexuals there are!" Ashton yelled. 

"Ashton, calm down. If you weren't, you wouldn't be getting this defensive over it," Michael pointed out. Ashton shut up after that, figuring that Michael would try to catch him with anything he said and however he said it. 

"How do you know?" Ashton asked after a minute, his voice quiet. 

"You've been angry and haven't been with your friends since the party, you kissed Luke again, and you're defensive," Michael told him. 

Ashton didn't know what to say. Michael was right; he hadn't really talked to any of his friends or teammates. He hasn't really talked to anyone for that matter. And he did kiss Luke, but it was to prove that he didn't feel anything for him. He was also only defensive because he didn't like people telling him what he was. 

Ashton told Michael all of this, and Michael listened closely, which made Ashton feel a little more comfortable when saying it. Ashton didn't know what to believe, whether he was gay or straight or bisexual. Michael was making some valid points, and even though he knew Luke most likely said the same thing, Michael was good at keeping Ashton calm. Ashton actually wanted to listen to Michael, whereas Luke, he didn't want to listen to him because Luke had accused him straightaway of being something other than straight instead of making points like Michael did.

"So, Luke told me about when you had kissed him the second time. And we both had asked the same question. How would he be able to feel if you didn't feel anything?" Michael asked. 

"I don't know. I didn't kiss him passionately, so I figured he would be able to feel that," Ashton answered, knowing it was kind of a stretch.

"Ashton, when anyone surprises someone with a kiss, the last thing they're thinking is if they meant to do it or not. And you obviously did and that sent Luke mixed signals," Michael told him. 

"Are you trying to say that Luke has a crush on me? Because the feeling isn't mutual. I think I've made it very clear to him that I don't like him in the least," Ashton told Michael, not wanting anything to do with Luke. He hated the boy and it was that simple.

"No, I'm not saying that at all. Luke was of the thinking that you were straight and hated his guts, but then you go and kiss him like that and it got him confused as to if you did have a closet crush on him and if you were actually gay. You know what I'm saying?" Michael explained. 

Ashton stayed quiet, his mind reeling. There was a part of him saying that Michael and Luke had been right all along with saying that he was gay or bi. And the other part of him was screaming how wrong that is and how unbelievable it was. He had been with Sierra, he had actually felt love for her and she was a girl. But Luke was a boy and he had actually enjoyed kissing him. Yes, he may have been very much under the influence, but he remembered kissing him. He remembered that he liked the feel of it. It was different than a girl's lips and he liked it. 

"Ashton, it's okay to cry. I know that it's an overwhelming thing," Michael told him, his voice soft. 

Ashton then looked at him, realizing that he was actually crying. He didn't say anything and just got up from his spot on the couch, going into the bathroom to clean himself up and not look like a wuss for crying. He couldn't lose his manliness anymore than he had already. 

He urged himself to look in the mirror, looking into his own red and puffy eyes. On the walk in here, he had been asking himself why he was crying if there was no reason to. But now he knew his answer. 

\----


	15. Chapter 15

Luke was casually eating his lunch as he worked in the library. It wasn't usual for him to be in there during lunch, but Michael had said he needed to make up a test and that meant that Luke would be alone, which he didn't really want. Plus, he figured that he would do his good deed for the day and help the librarians put away books and such. 

"Why did I figure that you would be in here of all places in this school?"

Luke looked up to see Michael walking towards him. It confused Luke for a second since he didn't expect Michael to finish his test that fast. Especially since it was an English test and Michael was terrible at English. 

"Because you know me better than you know yourself," Luke answered. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you because I didn't want to be the loser who didn't have any friends in the cafeteria," Michael told him. Valid point.

"I see. How did the test go?" Luke asked, stabbing the green beans with his fork. 

"It went pretty good, actually. I have a good feeling that I passed this one," Michael answered. 

Luke couldn't help but give his best friend a proud smile. Michael wasn't very good in school and when he felt like he passed something or did pass something, it was a big deal to him. It didn't happen very often and it always made Michael happy, so it made Luke happy because he knew that Michael was really trying to get his grades to be decent. 

"Good! I hope you do pass," Luke told him, causing the black haired boy to smile. 

The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Michael and Luke got up, quickly walking out to the cafeteria to dump Luke's tray. They had about ten minutes for passing time to get to their next class, but the library wasn't very close to the cafeteria and they had to go back up to their lockers to get the correct books. 

After they dumped the tray and were in their locker hallway, the crowd was pretty much cleared out. It was a normal walk and the usual get-the-hell-out-of-my-ways until the two boys passed by Ashton. It usually would've been a death glare towards Luke, but this time it was a smile. A smile. Ashton Irwin never smiled at Luke. He hated Luke, especially since Ricky's party. And to put a cherry on top of the dessert, it was a sad smile. What the hell was he shooting a sad smile at Luke for?! 

Luke hit Michael's shoulder. "Did you see that?!" 

"Ouch. What?" Michael asked, rubbing the spot that Luke had hit him.

"Why the hell is Ashton smiling at me?" Luke asked frantically.

"Maybe he was just being nice? People do that, you know. Not everyone likes to be mean and hit people," Michael said, narrowing his eyes when he said the last part.

"But Ashton hates me," Luke pointed out.

"Luke, why are you getting all up in arms about this? You sound like a girl. You're probably making something out of nothing. It was just a smile," Michael told him.

Luke processed what he said, realizing that he had acted like a girl. It was just a smile anyway. Maybe he felt bad for being such an ass for Luke and wanted to make amends or something. Either way, Luke was making a mountain out of a molehill. 

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know. I guess I'm just tired," Luke told him, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Or you like him," Michael said with a smirk.

"I like him as much as I like the Kardashians," Luke said, narrowing his eyes as he twirled his lock. 

"And you say he's the one in denial when you're in just as deep!" Michael said, causing Luke to roll his eyes.

"I am not in denial and you better not say I am just because I am denying the bullshit that is pouring out of your mouth. I don't like Ashton Irwin in any way, shape, or form. Yes, I may be confused with my sexuality, but that doesn't mean that I have a crush on Ashton!" Luke told him, poking Michael's chest. 

"Whatever you say," Michael said. "Mr. Denial."

"Okay, I'm going to beat your ass right here, right now," Luke threatened through gritted teeth. 

\----

Ashton sat at one of the high top tables that Michael told him to meet him at. He felt like a loser, but didn't know why because he was the only one in the hallway. He figured that it was probably because he was meeting up with Michael, who wasn't in his circles and it felt weird to him, as mean as that was. 

Over the past few days, Ashton has been talking to Michael regarding his sexuality. Michael was helping him through it and being a friend to him. He felt bad because he knew that Michael wasn't going to tell Luke that Ashton and him were talking or had talked, and he knew how close the two were. He didn't like making Michael keep something from his best friend, even if he insisted that it wasn't that big of deal. 

It was still difficult for Ashton to accept that he wasn't fully straight, but he was getting there and Michael was helping him. Ashton had become even more shut off from his normal friends, which had them slightly concerned, but not enough for them to ask why. They just figured that Ashton was still hung up over Sierra and Jack having a thing. It was at first, or so he thought, but he realized the real reason was because he had been downright confused and now, he just felt different and like they wouldn't accept him if he were to tell them that he was either gay or bisexual. 

Ashton wasn't as happy or as bubbly ever since Ricky's party. Usually, he would sass the teachers or be a class clown, but now he wasn't. He was quiet and tried to go ignored and the teachers were noticing, but they weren't going to say anything because they figured that they boy decided that what he was doing was childish. But in Ashton's mind, he wasn't happy. He was confused and upset with himself for being the way he is, even though there was nothing he could do to control it or change it.

He saw Michael walking down the hallway towards him, a bag of Doritos in hand. Ashton wanted to talk to Michael because he had been feeling really depressed for the past two days, and it was kind of scaring Ashton because he didn't like feeling that way and didn't know what to do. 

"Hey, Ash. What's up?" Michael said, climbing onto the chair across from Ashton. "Are you okay? You look sad."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Ashton told him.

"What do you mean? Is everything okay?" Michael asked, growing concerned for his newfound friend. 

"Yeah - I mean, I don't know. I think so, but I don't really know. I just...I feel depressed," Ashton told him. 

He told him everything that he had been feeling and how he didn't like it. How he felt the urge to just drown himself in his bathtub, how he cried while taking a shower and to sleep. He knew that it was probably him just being dramatic, but Michael listened to him, taking him seriously. 

"I think it's common for people to feel depressed after they realize that they're gay or bisexual. Don't do anything rash, like drowning yourself or self-harming. I know it's overwhelming, but I'm here for you, okay? I'll help you through it," Michael told him. 

"Thanks, Michael," Ashton said with a small smile, happy that he had someone that he knew he could talk to. He knew his friends weren't going to be there for him and would probably disown him as soon as they found out because they were the type to pick on the gay kids. 

"Don't be sad, okay? I know it's probably hard to accept yourself, but you can do it," Michael told him reassuringly. "And if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here. Hell, talk to Luke. I'm sure he'd listen."

Hearing Luke's name made Ashton perk up for some reason. He didn't know why, but it made him feel better that he now had two people he could talk to, even if he told off one of them and didn't really care for him. At least, as far as he knew.

"I should get looking for Luke. He probably thinks I died or something," Michael exhaled, looking up at the clock above his head. 

"Okay. Thanks, Michael," Ashton said with a sad smile.

"Anytime."

\----


	16. Chapter 16

Luke was sitting in the library after school, working on his AP Chemistry lab report. He didn't want to have to do it when he got home, so he decided to just stay after and finish it. Michael left, being that he didn't want to stay in the school any longer than he had to, so Luke was just sitting quietly by himself, doing his work and listening to his music. 

Normally, the school library was closed right at 3:15, but since he was in good spirits with the old librarians and they liked him, they said that they could stay until 4:30 to finish his work. He thought it was sweet, being that he was considered one of their favorite students and it made him feel a sense of power since he was the only one he knew that they did that for. 

There was a tap on his shoulder, nearly scaring him half to death. He pulled out his earbuds and went to turn around, expecting to see the librarian standing behind him but was instead greeted with Ashton. He got a confused scowl on his face, wondering why the hell Ashton was bothering him, let alone stepping foot in the library. Luke thought that was considered social suicide in the popularity world, hence why he wasn't considered popular. 

"Um, can I help you? If you're looking for Mrs. Garfield, she's in the office," Luke told him, figuring that Ashton was returning a textbook or something. 

"Who?" he asked, but shook his head. "Nevermind. I was actually looking for you and I found you." 

"Me? Why?" Luke asked, coming out more rude than he intended, but whatever. It was Ashton. He didn't like him, so why should he care if he's rude to him? 

"Because I needed to talk to you," he responded.

"How did you know I'd even be in here?" Luke asked. Ashton didn't know that Luke spent most of his free time during the day in the library. If he would've, Luke was sure that Ashton would've harassed him about it by now.

"I don't know. You're a nerd, so I put two and two together," he shrugged.

"Gee, thanks. I'm glad my label helped you locate me," Luke said, narrowing his eyes, turning and going back to working on his lab report. He didn't have time for Ashton to sit and insult him. He worked in silence for a few minutes, nearly forgetting that Ashton was even there. It was until he heard Ashton clear his throat that he turned his head towards him. "What are you still doing here? Can't you see that I'm trying to do my homework? Wait - sorry, I forgot that you don't know what homework looks like since you never do it."

 

Luke's words surprisingly somewhat hurt Ashton. Usually, Ashton would just shrug it off, but this time it kind of stung. But he wasn't about to let Luke know that, so he just rolled his eyes and pretended that it didn't bother him. He didn't like Luke, so why let his words hurt?

"I need to talk to you, like I said before," Ashton said, a little more sharply. 

"About what? Whatever you want to talk about surely isn't that life altering and I'm pretty sure it can wait until some other time," Luke snapped. He didn't want to talk to Ashton if he could help it. 

"Actually, I don't think it can. It's not going to make much of a difference what I say because I still hate you and you still hate me, but I think that it's for the better," Ashton started, causing Luke to roll his eyes. Ashton never did anything for the better, so Luke doubted that he'd start now.

"Fine. Since you're going to be annoying as fuck, spit out whatever it is that is so important so I can go back to finishing my homework, unlike you," Luke spat harshly. He was in a mood and it wasn't a very good one. 

"I'm sorry I acted like an insane escaped mental patient when you came over to my house that day. I should've just heard you out instead of screaming at you and kicking you out. I know that you didn't mean any harm by it, but I just assumed you did and I didn't like what you were saying because I felt like you were trying to attack me. It was something that I didn't want to believe, so I decided to yell at you in order to convince myself that it wasn't and that was wrong because you didn't do anything except try to tell me something," Ashton apologize.

Luke sat in the chair, speechless. Ashton seemed rather sincere in his words and Luke found that to be quite different for Ashton. As long as Luke has known the boy, he's never heard him apologize or saw him as the apologizing type. He didn't know what to say. 

"Luke...?" Ashton asked, trying to prompt the kid to say something so he didn't feel like a complete idiot. 

"Um, it's okay. I mean, I didn't appreciate having you jump down my throat like you did, but I guess I don't completely blame you for doing that. I would've probably done the same, except not as ape-like. When somebody comes at you and tells you that they think that you're gay, you're not going to like it and it's going to upset you. I shouldn't have just come at you like I did. I should've approached it differently," Luke said finally, apologizing as well because he knew that he didn't approach Ashton in the right way and that wasn't smart of him.

"So...I guess, yeah. I'm sorry," Ashton responded awkwardly. 

Luke smiled awkwardly. He never thought that Ashton would apologize for anything that he ever said to him, because the majority of it was rude just like Ashton. So this was kind of a step in the right direction for them. Not that the two would ever become friends, because they won't. 

"I'm, um, going to go," Ashton said, feeling awkward because he didn't know what to do now.

"You don't have to. I mean, if you want to stay while I finish this, it isn't a big deal," Luke offered, wondering what the fuck he was doing right after he said it. 

Ashton looked at Luke, not sure if he should take the kid's offer. Sure, he didn't really like him, but at the same time, he didn't think that hanging out with him for a little bit would be that bad. "Um, I guess. I wouldn't be bothering you, would I?"

"No, I'm almost done," Luke said with a small smile.

Ashton went to the chair next to him and sat down, putting his nearly empty backpack on the table. He had his English notebook in there, but he didn't want to do it because Luke was supposed to read it over tomorrow during class and Ashton was going to make a fool of himself because he gets frustrated with English most of the time. 

"Are you okay?" Luke asked. "You look upset. I'm not forcing you to stay."

"No, I was just thinking..." Ashton trailed off. 

"About?" Luke pressed. 

"Um, English," Ashton said quietly. 

"You were thinking about English? Why?" he asked as he quickly typed a sentence to conclude the paragraph.

"Because it's hard," Ashton admitted, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment right after he admitted it.

"What we're doing isn't too hard. Do you want my help?" Luke offered, figuring why not. 

"N-no, it's fine," Ashton stammered, feeling stupid. He always felt stupid around Luke. The boy was a fucking genius.

"Ashton, I'm offering to help you because you're struggling, but you're going to turn it down?" Luke asked, confused. He knew that if he was offered help, he wouldn't turn it down. He would accept it in a heartbeat.

"I just...I don't want it, okay?" Ashton said, trying not to raise his voice. He wasn't necessarily getting mad at Luke, he just didn't want to feel stupid. 

"Okay, okay," Luke said, putting up his hands in defense.

\----

About forty minutes later, the two boys were walking out of the school. Luke had finished his lab report and Ashton had worked on his English, despite not getting it. Both of them had to admit that hanging out with each other for that short period of time wasn't too bad. They seemed to get along, but at the same time they hated each other. It was a weird relationship. 

"Do you want a ride home?" Ashton offered, figuring that Luke wasn't the type to have his own car.

"No, I have my junker over there," Luke smiled, gesturing to the beat up little car on the other side of the lot. 

"Oh, okay," Ashton said, offering a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Luke said, giving him a small wave. He started walking towards his car, but then turned around. "Oh, Ashton?"

"Yeah?" Ashton called, looking up from unlocking his door.

"Thanks for staying. It was...fun," Luke said. 

"Yeah, I guess it was."

\----


	17. Chapter 17

"It was damn weird, I'm telling you," Luke told Michael, taking a slice of pizza from the box.

 

"It was weird that you hung out with Ashton and he apologized?" Michael restated, keeping his eyes on whatever video game he was playing.

"Yes! I don't know how you're acting so calm about this. Ashton Irwin never apologizes. Fuck, I thought the kid hated me?" Luke told him, slightly freaking out. Again, he was acting like a teenage girl.

"Luke, calm down. Maybe he really felt bad for freaking out on you. Just give him a chance. He might not be that bad of guy," Michael told Luke, irritated with how his friend was handling this.

"Since when were you on Ashton's side?" Luke scoffed. 

Luke knew that something was going on with Michael. Normally, he would think the same as Luke and be just as shocked about his apology as Luke was because Michael hated Ashton as much as Luke did. But instead, he was acting like he never hated him to begin with and that was absolute bullshit. To say the least, Michael wasn't at all acting like himself.

"I'm not on Ashton's side. I'm just saying that the guy might not be a complete dick like you think," Michael said simply. 

"How do you know? He's an asshole. He always has been," Luke argued.

"How can you just judge him when you barely know him?" he snapped.

Luke was kind of taken aback by Michael's snap, but pretended as if it didn't bother him. "I'm not judging him? I'm stating a fact based on what I know."

"That's not a fact, Luke. That's a front he puts up. You're judging his front," Michael told him.

"What do you mean? How do you know?" Luke asked, furrowing his brow.

"Because I've been helping him, Luke! He's not a prick! He's confused and needs someone to be there for him and God knows that his friends aren't!" Michael exploded, now yelling. Luke stayed in his spot, scared that Michael was going to bite his head off. "Ashton's not a bad person. He's actually a really nice guy and he's changed since the party. He's not the same Ashton that you supposedly know him as."

"So, you're friends with him?" Luke asked, just to clarify.

"My God, Luke. It's not that big of deal, but yes! Is that such a bad thing? I went to his house to talk to him, like you did, except I was less forceful than you," Michael explained. "And we've been talking and such ever since."

"So all the lunches and shit that you missed was because you were hanging out with him?" Luke snapped, his tone filled with envy. "You were ditching me?"

"I was helping him, Luke. I wasn't ditching you. Why should it matter anyway?" Michael asked, getting scared of the tone that Luke was using.

"Because my best friend is ditching me for my mortal enemy! You can't hang out with him, Michael! He's going to corrupt you into being a dick!" Luke yelled.

"Calm the fuck down. He's not going to corrupt because he's not a dick. Also, you were hanging out with him, so shouldn't I be going ape shit on you?" Michael pointed out. 

"I didn't plan it! He just showed up!" Luke yelled. "I have every fucking right to be going ape shit on you! You're going behind my back!"

"Whatever. If you're going to sit here and bitch at me for being a terrible friend, get out of my house. Go find somebody who gives half a shit to listen to you. I've been nothing but a good friend to you, Luke. All I'm doing is helping someone else who doesn't have anyone to talk to like you do," Michael sneered, sick of listening to Luke scold him for being a good person. 

"Fuck you, Michael," Luke spat, gathering his things and leaving Michael's room.

Luke and Michael rarely ever fought. The extent of their arguments was over something petty like which Youtuber was hotter, so this was definitely different for them to be having an argument over something like Michael turning his back on Luke, which he certainly wasn't.

For as long as they have been friends, Michael and Luke never betrayed each other. They loved each other like brothers and never once thought of betraying the other. So for Luke to accuse Michael of turning his back on him hurt Michael because he would never do that to Luke. He was confused as to why Luke would even think that he would do that in the first place. They were allowed to have other friends and both of them knew that. Michael understood that Luke didn't like Ashton and he didn't expect him to be gung ho on their friendship, but he didn't think that Luke would go insane about it. It wasn't like Michael was forcing Luke to hang out with Ashton. He wouldn't stick his friends in that predicament knowing that the two didn't like each other one bit. 

\----

Luke got home, completely fuming about Michael and Ashton being friends. How long has it been going on? That was probably why Michael was invited to the party. That was why Luke had to endure the disgusting makeout session with Ashton. It sickened Luke that Michael would go against him like that. Michael knew that Ashton wasn't a good person or a good influence. And Michael had even told Luke that he didn't like Ashton because he was a dick. Had Michael lied to him? 

Another thing that burned Luke's ass was that Michael had ditched him for Ashton. All the times Luke was alone in the library during lunch, Michael was probably with Ashton. Before Ashton had even showed up at the library after school, he was probably with Michael. Luke didn't like that Michael was spending all of his time with Ashton. It wasn't fair.

"You're home early. I thought you were at Michael's," Liz said as Luke walked into his house. 

"Why would I be wasting my time with someone who isn't even my friend?" Luke spat. 

Liz furrowed her brow, confused as to what Luke meant. Liz knew that it Michael and Luke never got into fights. The two were too alike to ever disagree enough on anything to end up hating each other. She followed her son up to his room, worried that something serious happened with Michael. Luke could put up with a lot when it came to Michael, so she knew that there was something definitely wrong.

Luke was in his room, not even knowing what to do with himself because he was so pissed off. He heard a light knock on the door, knowing that it was his mum thinking that something traumatic happened. He didn't want to snap her head off, so he wasn't going to answer. 

"Luke, open the door," Liz said through the thick door, waiting for her son to answer it. "Lucas Robert."

"I don't want to fucking talk to anyone!" Luke yelled angrily. 

"You're not going to be talking if you keep using that tongue, mister," Liz warned. "Tell me what happened."

"God dammit, mum! I want to be left alone!" Luke yelled again, tears finding their way out. 

His eyes landed on a picture of him and Michael smiling on his desk. He leaned back against the wall and slowly slid down, now crying angrily. That's when he realized the real reason he was pissed off and it wasn't at Michael one bit. 

\----


	18. Chapter 18

Hanging out with Luke wasn't that bad. He actually wasn't as annoying as Ashton had originally thought. Ashton was still a bit uncomfortable, but he actually did enjoy himself, which he didn't expect to feel that way. After he apologized, Ashton actually felt better and like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. The boy rarely apologized to people like Luke, but whenever he would, he never got that feeling. It was a bit weird. 

"Ashton?" Clare asked, opening his door a little and poked her head in.

"Hey, Clare," Ashton greeted with a small smile. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering when you got here. I didn't hear you come in," Clare said, walking into Ashton's room and taking a seat next to him on the bed. 

"Not too long ago," he told her.

"Why so late? But you didn't have practice or anything today," Clare pointed out with a confused expression. 

"No, I actually stayed after with, erm, a friend, I guess is what you'd call him?" Ashton told her, not really sure what to call Luke. They weren't exactly friends and they weren't exactly enemies.

Clare snorted. "Out of all of your friends, I can't see any of them staying after school with you if it was for something that wasn't sports related. Honestly, I can't see you doing it either. No offense."

"He's not in sports and he's not really a friend, but he was working on a chemistry paper and wanted to know if I wanted to stay after school with him while he worked," Ashton told her. 

"So you're branching out from the jock world? I'm impressed, Ash," Clare said with a smile. She knew that Ashton was a good person, but he had always been so sucked up into the world of popularity and never wanted to be friends with someone who wasn't a jock or a cheerleader. She was proud that he was finally going out of his comfort zone. 

"Well, yeah. I guess so," Ashton shrugged. 

Ashton's phone began ringing on the desk next to him and Clare just gave him a soft smile and pat on the back before getting up and leaving the room. Ashton reached over, grabbing the device to see that it was Michael calling. He furrowed his brow, confused as to why the boy would be calling when they usually would just text. He figured that it was something serious considering, so he swiped to answer.

"Hey, Michael," Ashton answered hesitantly. 

"Hi, Ashton. Are you busy right now?" Michael asked, his voice sounding sad.

"Um, no. I'm just sitting on my bed," Ashton told him. "What's up? You sound sad."

"I'll tell you when you come here," Michael huffed.

"Okay...I can be there in a few minutes," he told him and then hung up.

Ashton got off of the bed and hurried down the stairs, grabbing his key off the ring and went out to his car. He had an idea where Michael lived, but he wasn't 100% sure, so he was going to wing it and hope that he would get the right house. Before he backed out of his driveway, he sent Clare a quick text to tell her that he wasn't going to be home for dinner. 

\----

Ashton pulled his car in front of the house that he assumed was Michael's, hesitantly getting out and walking up to the door. He wasn't one to get embarrassed, but for some reason, getting the wrong house would make him feel that way. With a deep breath, he slowly knocked on the door, praying that he was at the Clifford residence. 

After a few long minutes, a blonde woman answered the door with a small smile on her face. She didn't look like Michael. "Hello, can I help you?"

"Yeah, does Michael Clifford live here?" Ashton asked politely.

"Yes, he does. May I ask who wants him? He won't come out of his room otherwise," the woman laughed.

"I'm Ashton," he told her, smiling.

Before she could yell for him, Michael was opening the door and walking past her. Ashton could see that something was wrong with him because he didn't think that he would be that rude to what he assumed was his mother. Ashton gave her a small half smile and hurried to catch up to Michael, who was already at Ashton's car.

"Is everything okay?" Ashton asked as he lowered himself into the driver's seat. 

"I'm a bit pissed if you couldn't tell," Michael said, his tone sharp.

"What? Why?" he asked, pulling away from the curb.

"Because Luke is being a little bitch. I told him about us being friends and he went off the deep end. He was acting like a child. What pisses me off is that he was pissed that I was helping you and being there for you. We never fight like this and here he goes scolding me for hanging out with just after he got done telling me that he was hanging out with you," Michael vented as the two drove down the street. 

"He's seriously mad at you for that? Does he hate me that bad?" Ashton wondered. Luke didn't act like he hated him at the library, but he went and blew up at Michael? It just didn't make much sense to him.

"That's what I have been thinking about. I think he was jealous as fuck of me hanging out with you when he didn't and he resorted to yelling at me and telling me that it was wrong," Michael explained. "I think he likes you, Ashton."

\----

Ashton was sitting at the dining room table, picking at his food. Clare kept asking him what was wrong, but he didn't answer more than 'I'm tired'. He didn't know how to feel about what Michael told him. Ashton was just accepting himself as gay and for him to maybe already have someone crushing on him kind of overwhelmed him. Luke wasn't as bad of a person as Ashton thought, but he didn't know how to take the fact that the boy might have a crush on him. 

He didn't know if he felt anything towards Luke back. Sure, he's had crushes on girls before and knew what it felt like, but he didn't know if having a crush on the guy would be the same. It was dumb for him to think that way because it shouldn't be that much different, but he did. 

Before he had dropped Michael off, the boy had given him Luke's phone number. Ashton didn't really know what to do with it. He didn't know if he should text him because he was afraid Luke would fly off the handle knowing that it was Michael who gave it to him. Also, considering that Luke may like Ashton, that made him unsure whether or not to become friends with him. He wanted to hang out with Luke more to make up for being an asshole to him all these years, but he just wasn't sure if he'd be getting the wrong idea. 

"May I be excused?" Ashton asked Clare quietly.

"Yeah, put your dishes in the sink, please," Clare nodded, looking at Ashton with slight concern. 

Ashton got up from the table, taking his dirty plate into the kitchen and putting it into the empty sink. He went upstairs and grabbed his phone from his desk, going into his text messages. He opened a new text, typing in Luke's name. He took a deep breath, figuring that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

_[To: Luke Hemmings]_

_It's ashton. do you wanna hangout tomorrow???_

\----


	19. Chapter 19

Luke was walking out to the empty basketball court, seeing that Ashton was leaning against the basketball hoop pole, scrolling through his phone. He had thought that it was a little weird that Ashton had wanted to hangout again, considering they weren't even friends. But then he remembered the realization he had had before he had gotten the text, so he thought that he'd give it a shot. 

Luke cleared his throat when he got closer and Ashton looked up from his device, half smiling at him. "You wanted me?" 

"Well, if you have time to schedule me into your nerd night," Ashton joked. Luke looked at him and raised his eyebrow. The two started walking towards the parking lot. "Right. Um, well. Do you want to go to the mall or something? Hangout at my place?"

"You mean you haven't thought about what we're doing?" Luke asked with an amused expression. 

"Well, no. I didn't think that you would require me to have an itinerary. You really are a nerd," Ashton chuckled.

"I'm not requiring an itinerary!" Luke defended. Ashton raised his eyebrows. "Okay, well, I'm surprised you even knew what the word itinerary was."

"Please, I may be terrible in English, but I'm not illiterate," Ashton scoffed.

"Stop using these big words. You're starting to scare me," Luke joked. 

"Nerd boy can't handle the dumb soccer player having a wide vocabulary?" Ashton chuckled, playfully shoving Luke with his shoulder. 

"No because I thought all jocks' had an IQ of at least forty," Luke joked. 

"Well, I must be a genius in jockland because mine is at least sixty," Ashton responded. 

"Fuck, if they made an island, you should be president," he laughed. 

"You know, Hemmings, you're kind of a jackass," Ashton told him.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Luke said, holding a hand to his heart. 

"Whatever, Hemmings," Ashton said, rolling his eyes. "Do you want to take my car or did you drive? And where did you want to go? I'll take you back to get your car if we end up taking mine." 

"We can take your car. Mine's kind of a piece of shit," Luke shrugged. "But I don't care where we go. As long as you don't try to kill me, I'm alright."

Ashton laughed and shook his head, now leading him to his car. He had an idea, but he was hoping that Clare wasn't there.

\----

Ashton drove up into his driveway, seeing that Clare's car wasn't there. He didn't want to get drilled with questions as to who Luke was or anything. He just wanted to be able to hang out with Luke alone without any interruptions. He wanted to get to know him and maybe give friendship a shot. 

"Welcome to my house once again. This time, you will not be yelled at and kicked out," Ashton told the blonde sitting next to him. 

"Gee, that's a nice reassuring thought," Luke chuckled. "I didn't get to tell you last time, but you have a nice house."

"Thanks. My mum went through a lot to find one that fit her expectations," Ashton said, rolling his eyes. 

"She has good taste," Luke nodded. 

The two got out of the car and Ashton led Luke to his front door. The house was quiet, thankfully. He was hoping that Clare would take his siblings shopping or something. It was weird. Usually, Ashton wouldn't care if anyone was home because he would just hang out with whoever in his room with the door locked. Except, this time, he wanted to be left alone so he could have Luke all to himself.

There was only one other person that he has felt that way about and that was Sierra. 

Ashton felt himself shiver at the thought and just brushed the thought away. He didn't want to think into it right now, not when he was going to spend time with Luke. This was just going to be them hanging out as friends; not him thinking about what happened with him and Luke or what has been going on in his messed up head.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Ashton asked, throwing his backpack onto the recliner as Luke took his shoes off by the door, neatly lining them up. 

"Um, what do you have?" Luke asked. 

"Pretty much every junk food under the sun, vegetables and fruit if you're a twigs and berries type a guy," Ashton told him, summing up his entire food supply. 

"Crisps are good," Luke shrugged, just saying the first thing that came to mind. 

"Anything to drink?" Ashton asked, backing towards the entrance to his kitchen.

"Water," he responded.

"So boring," Ashton chuckled and then went into the kitchen.

Luke awkwardly stood in the same spot, not really sure if he should follow Ashton or go to his room or what. It was a lot different than the last time he was here because he kind of let himself in because he didn't feel the need to have any respect for Ashton. Where now, he did. He was a welcomed guest in his home and he was going to be respectful and not one of those annoying house guests that makes themselves comfortable. He wasn't really like that. He had manners.

Ashton walked out with a bag of Lays, a bowl, and two waters in his arms. He looked at up at me with a weird smile. "Can I have a bit of help?" 

"Nah, I was planning on watching you struggle," Luke smirked. 

"Gee, what a great person you are," Ashton laughed. 

"Only the best," Luke said with a wide grin, like the emoji, and grabbed the bowl from Ashton. 

The two went upstairs, Ashton leading Luke. They passed by the guest room and Ashton stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth dropping when he saw who was lying on the bed, snoring. 

"Ashton, what's wrong?" Luke asked, confused as to why he just stopped in the middle of the hallway. 

"Um, nothing. Just the fact that my cousin is asleep in my house when he's supposed to be at uni," Ashton answered nonchalantly, as if it happened all the time, even though it didn't. 

Luke took a step closer to Ashton so he could see the strange person that was asleep on the bed. Luke recognized him from Ricky's party. It was the blonde that had been with Ashton basically the entire night. 

Ashton just shrugged and then continued to his room. Luke quickly followed. "Don't you think that you should wake him up so he isn't freaked?"

"No because then he'll insist on hanging out with us," Ashton said flatly and then his eyes widened, realizing what just came out of his mouth.

Luke quirked his eyebrow. "Is that such a bad thing? I mean, you did bring him to Ricky's party, so he can't be that bad of a guy."

"Well, he's just really, erm, clingy," Ashton lied. James wasn't clingy at all. He just wanted Luke to himself. 

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I don't want him to feel left out or anything," Luke insisted.

Ashton mentally groaned. As much as he loved his cousin, he didn't want him there and didn't want to spend time with him. He wanted to be with Luke and Luke only. 

"Fine."

Ashton walked out of his bedroom and went back to the guest room, Luke in tow. He tried to hide his irritation, but it was difficult since he wasn't very good at hiding his emotions. 

\----


	20. Chapter 20

"Whaaaaaat?" James moaned after Ashton shook him awake. 

Ashton huffed, not wanting to deal with him. "What are you doing in my house?" 

"Sleeping obviously. Now shoo, you peasant," James said, burying his face back into the pillow. 

Ashton heard Luke trying not to laugh behind him and Ashton just rolled his eyes, not finding this at all amusing. He invited Luke to hangout with him, just him. Not have to babysit his grown cousin. 

It kind of confused Ashton with all these negative thoughts about James, the cousin that was best friend and his brother. He wouldn't normally think about him like this and he wouldn't be bothered if James hung out with him and a friend. But now, he just wanted to personally kick the kid out of the fucking window. 

"I'm not going to shoo, King Asshole. I want to know why the hell you're sleeping in my guest room. I have a friend over and I don't want his precious ears to be damaged by your snoring," Ashton told him. 

"I smell a bitch," James snorted, sitting up and squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. 

"I'm not a bitch. You're just lucky that you aren't Jack or else you would be laying on the top of my air conditioner unit because I pushed your ass out the window," Ashton snapped. 

"You have a point. Now, tell me, who is this lad standing behind you?" the older boy asked, nodding towards Luke. 

"Hi, I'm Luke," Luke introduced, giving him a closed mouth smile and a small wave. 

"Hello, Luke. I'm James, Ashton's favorite cousin in the world," the blonde introduced back, earning a dramatic eyeroll from Ashton. "How come Ash hasn't brought you around before?"

"Well, um, we're not really friends, I guess?" Luke squeaked. 

"What do you mean? Are you like partners for a project or...?" James asked, confused.

"No. I mean, we were, but we're not really friends, but we are? It's hard to explain. I think we're giving the friendship thing a try? I don't know. We actually wanted to rip each other's heads off a few days ago," Ashton told him. 

James just stared blankly at the two. "You young kids and your fucked up logic." 

"Hey, you're not that much older than us and you have some pretty rank logic, so shut up," Ashton told him. 

"Whatever you say," James said, putting his hands up in surrender. "So, what do you kids plan on doing?"

"I don't know. We have junk food so we'll probably play video games or something," Ashton told him, glancing at me. 

"Sounds like a good time," James said and Ashton knew that he was hinting that he wanted to join them. "Mind if I join you?"

Ashton looked to Luke, nonchalantly raising his eyebrows and chewed his bottom lip as if to say I-told-you-so. Luke just nodded, not minding that James would be hanging out with them. 

\----

"Do you have FIFA?" Luke asked, sort of tired of the zombie game they were playing. 

"Ew, no," Ashton said, shooting a zombie. 

"What? Ew?" Luke questioned. "What is the matter with you?"

"I know. I ask him that every time. Believe me, Luke, I've tried to convert him to being a FIFA fan, but he just refuses," James piped up. "That's where I failed in raising him."

"I just hate FIFA. It's boring and stupid," Ashton shrugged. 

"You're boring and stupid," Luke mumbled. 

"Thank you. That's what I'm best at," Ashton joked. 

The three went quiet again, focused on the game. Luke actually thought that James was pretty cool and didn't see why Ashton didn't want him to hang out with them. Yeah, he wouldn't have minded if it were just him and Ashton, but James wasn't an asshole, so it was okay in his opinion. And just watching the two interact was funny because they were so sarcastic towards each other. 

Suddenly, Luke's phone started ringing and he figured that it was mum wondering where he was at since it was nearly 6:30. He also forgot to tell her that he was going to be home later, so she was probably ready to send the FBI and SWAT teams out after him. 

"Hello, mother," Luke answered. Ashton and James looked at him in confusion and then saw that he was on the phone.

"Luke Robert Hemmings, where the hell are you?" Liz demanded.

"I'm over at a friend's house. I forgot to text you and tell you that I would be running late. I'm sorry, mum," Luke apologized, knowing that she wouldn't be too mad at him since he apologized and was honest with her.

"Thank you for telling me now that I called in a missing person's report. Anyway, I want you home in at least twenty minutes, okay? Dinner's almost ready," she told him.

"Alright, I'll see you then, mum."

Luke hung up the phone and then Ashton looked back at him. "Everything okay?" 

"Yeah. Can you bring me back to the school to get my car? My mum wants me home for dinner," Luke told him, sort of feeling like a mumma's boy, which he was. 

"Sure thing," Ashton said, hitting pause on the game. "Would you like to come with us, James?" 

"If you want me to," James shrugged. 

The three boys got up and made their way downstairs, seeing that they still had the house to themselves. Luke nonchalantly called shotgun and James whined slightly, but Ashton told him to shut up. Sadly, the ride to the school was short and that meant that the Luke's time with Ashton and James would come to an end. He really enjoyed hanging out with the two. He had fun. 

When they got to the school, Luke's shitty car was the only vehicle that was occupying the lot, actually making the usually pristine and kept up property look ugly. That's how bad Delilah (his car's name) looked, but it ran, so he didn't mind. 

Ashton pulled up next to it and unlocked the doors, smiling at the blonde next to him. "Well, here you are." 

"It was fun. Lovely meeting you, James. Hopefully, we'll see each other again sometime," Luke said to James. 

"Yeah, same to you, Luke. You're pretty chill, mate," James said with a smile. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Luke said to Ashton.

"Yep. Have a nice dinner," Ashton said with a small smile. 

\----


	21. Chapter 21

Ricky had invited Ashton over to his place to hang out and play basketball with Seth, Jack, and Alec. It didn't strike Ashton as odd, considering they did this type of thing every once in awhile, but he sort of felt awkward since he hasn't hung out with them in a while. He would've taken James with him, but he had left with Clare to go furniture shopping for his new apartment, so he was going Han Solo. 

He pulled into Ricky's long driveway, faded memories of the party replaying in his mind. He saw his friends' expensive cars and parked behind Jack's. He wanted to rear end his expensive BMW, but he willed himself not to. The only thing that Ashton was extremely mad about with the whole Jack-and-Sierra situation was the fact that Jack went behind Ashton's back like he did. That he thought that little of Ashton to betray him. 

He got out of his vehicle and casually walked up to Ricky's door, letting himself in like he usually did. He heard his friends - and Jack's - voice coming from what sounded like the kitchen. He made his way through the otherwise empty home and saw three of the four boys sitting at the counter and Ricky making what looked to be one of his mum's "virgin" water spritzers. 

"Hey, guys," Ashton said with a small smile, feeling different than he usually did around them. 

"Oh, hey, Ashton. Want a white grape flavored water spritzer?" Ricky asked. "My parents hid the liquor key again, so I promise that it's nonalcoholic." 

"Nah, I'm good. I had some Voss in the car," Ashton lied. To be honest, he didn't really like the taste of the water spritzers. They made his mouth feel dry. 

"Well, are you going to stand there like an awkward boner or are you going to take a seat?" Ricky asked with a smirk. 

Ashton responded with a shy chuckle and went over next to Seth and took a seat. It was a bit odd that Alec and Seth hadn't said hello to him since they usually were overly happy to see him. He didn't expect Jack to because, well, Jack was an asshole and he knew it. 

It was awkwardly quiet as Ricky finished making the water spritzers and passed them out to the three other boys. Ashton started to feel uncomfortable because there was never a quiet moment when they were all together. It was actually starting to freak him out a little bit. He had gathered that they were talking before he came in, so he was starting to worry that he did something to make them all (minus Ricky) give him the cold shoulder. 

"Is everything okay? You guys are too quiet," Ashton asked nonchalantly. 

"Everything is dandy," Ricky answered, taking a sip of his drink. By the look on his face, Ashton knew that he wasn't saying something. 

"I'm sorry I was late. The traffic was insane. I hope you guys didn't wait on me to start playing," Ashton said, trying so hard to create conversation between the five of them, but was failing since the only one that was willing to talk to him was Ricky. 

"Oh, actually, we weren't going to even play basketball today," Ricky said, setting down the glass and crossed his arms. 

Ashton furrowed his brow, confused because Ricky had literally sent the text twenty minutes ago. "What are we doing then?" 

"Ashton, we needed you here because we are having, erm, a meeting of sorts," Ricky said. "A brotherhood meeting is what it is." 

"Um, okay? If it's about Jack and Sierra, I don't really care about that. I just care that Jack-" 

"It has nothing to do with Sierra and Jack. It has to do with you," Ricky said sternly. 

Ashton felt himself go nervous. He didn't know what was going on or what a brotherhood meeting necessarily was since they had never had them before. He felt like his four friends were actually ganging up on him. 

"What do you mean? If I did or said anything to any of you, I'm sorr-" 

"Ashton, you are going to listen to what I have to say and you are not going to interrupt me. You can comment when everything is all said and done," Ricky instructed. Ashton slumped on the barstool, nervous yet eager to hear what was about to be said. "All of the boys and I have noticed that you haven't been with us lately. You've been very distant and haven't been speaking to us since the party. In fact, a few lads from the team noticed that you've been hanging out with that loser Clifton guy when you had said you couldn't hang out with us because you had plans with your aunt or some lame shit. Not only that, you were also ditching us for that nerd that you made out with at my party - which I didn't invite him to. And it's very obvious that you're all emo and butthurt about Sierra cheating on you, which is, for lack of a better word, gay. 

"Since you are apart of our popular friend group, your behavior is completely unacceptable. Therefore, the four of us have come to conclusion that you're no longer apart of our group, even if you're on the team. You are not allowed to talk to us, come to our parties uninvited, or be seen hanging out with us. Since you're acting emo about Sierra, your suspension on dating popular girls has been extended to four months. 

"You can be mad at us all you want, but it's your behavior that got you here. Please delete our numbers, remove all photos and posts including us, except team related, from social media, and also tell any of your relatives that we had had contact with that they are also banned from seeing us and to remove anything that is posted about us from social media and to lose our phone numbers. Any questions?" 

Ashton just stared at Ricky in shock. Since when did their friendships turn into an exclusive club? He didn't know that he could be banned from a friendship for going through something. It was absolute bullshit in his opinion. 

"Seriously, any questions? This is the last time you will ever be able to ask them to us," Ricky asked again. 

"Since when did our friendship become like a fucking sorority? We're not girls, for one. And two, I should be allowed to feel how I want and be seen with whoever I want. It doesn't affect you, so what does it matter?" Ashton said, obviously a bit of bite in his tone. 

"You're right. It doesn't matter to any of us anymore. We're not going to let you ruin our reputations by hanging out with losers and acting like an emo about a stupid girl that is actually a slut. No offense, Jack," Ricky answered. "So, if you're done, please get the hell out of my house because you're starting to make my stomach churn." 

Ashton's eyes brimmed with tears, not even knowing who Ricky was anymore. He knew that he could be a dick, but not like this. He had been best friends with these boys for years and it really hurt him. They were banning him from talking to anybody and everybody that he was friends with and that wasn't even fair. 

Without saying goodbye to any of them, he stormed out of the room flipping them all off and grumbling 'fuck you'. He slammed the front door, not giving two shits if it would fall off of the hinges. He got into his car, punching the steering wheel as he tried to will the tears from falling. 

He knew that he shouldn't drive being as angry as he was, but he wanted to get as far away from these assholes as he could. He was completely friendless now, minus Michael and maybe Luke. All he wanted was for his life to go back to the way it was before the fucking party. He would've been oblivious to Sierra and Jack, he would've been friends with his now ex-friends yet, he would still be the most popular guy in school.

As Ashton sped down the road towards his house, he realized that he didn't want to go home to his mum. He loved her and all, but she wouldn't understand. So instead, he went straight at the lights and headed towards the one place he could relax and wasn't banned from yet. 

\----


	22. Chapter 22

Ashton was sat in Starbucks, drinking a french vanilla cappuccino as he tried to forget what had happened with who he thought were his best friends, his brothers. It was hard though, because he virtually had nobody now, other than Michael and maybe Luke. But he knew that by tomorrow, the Ashton Irwin that everyone knew as the fun party animal and loved, would be ruined by tomorrow. Tonight even. 

That's what scared Ashton. He would go from being on top of the world, having everyone show him so much respect to being hated and at the very bottom of the totem pole. It isn't that he regrets being friends with Michael and Luke because they were real friends compared to the fake bastards. He just wishes that his old 'friends' weren't such stuck up assholes that were getting uptight about him hanging out with two people that happened to be unpopular. 

"Hey, are you okay?" 

Ashton looked up and he was greeted with a tan-skinned boy with messy dark brown hair and glasses. He was bundled in a sweater and a beanie, holding his cup of whatever in both of his hands. The boy looked to be around Ashton's age, but Ashton couldn't recall seeing him at school. 

"Um, I guess," Ashton answered, not really wanting to pour his life story out to a stranger. 

"Do you mind if I join you?" the boy then asked. Ashton felt it was a little odd, but figured the kid didn't look like he could do that much harm, so he motioned for him to take a seat. "I'm Calum Hood."

"Ashton Irwin," Ashton answered. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, especially this stranger. It was nothing against him, it was just that Ashton was in a pissy mood and he didn't want his first impression to be ruined. 

"Do you go to the high school here?" Calum asked nonchalantly and nervously. 

"Yeah. I'm in Year 12, thank God," Ashton breathed, rolling his eyes.

"Don't you like school?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

"No, not anymore. I mean, I never was a fan of it, but now that my reputation is going to get ruined and everyone is going to hate me, no. I actually dread it. So, just a warning, don't become friends with popular jocks by the names of Ricky, Seth, Jack, and Alec. They're not worth it and will eventually plan on bringing you down," Ashton told him. 

"Um, okay," he answered. He was confused as to why Ashton was telling him this, especially with such anger in his tone, but he assumed that something bad happened with them. And that was the reason why Ashton looked so upset. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't want to bore you with my life story. Believe me, from what's happened in the past couple weeks, it's about as long as the fucking Great Wall of China," Ashton said, shaking his head. 

Calum flinched, not use to the swearing, but didn't say anything. He didn't know how to handle Ashton, especially since he was angry and that he had just met him. The only two logical things to do would be to leave or have him call someone, but Calum wasn't logical sometimes. He could see that the boy needed a friend around and assuming by the amount of anger, this happened rather recently and Ashton probably didn't have anyone else. 

"You can if you want to, Ashton. I'll be your friend," Calum told him, putting his hand on Ashton's arm.

Ashton looked up, meeting Calum's eyes. He didn't expect for a stranger to care about him or sit there and listen to him complain. And then to suggest to be his friend? He wasn't one to be saying no to friends, not at this point.

"You want to be my friend? I've made a shitty first impression on you and you want to be my friend?" Ashton asked, not noticing how uncomfortable the swearing made Calum.

"I mean, I guess. It looks like you need someone and from what you've told me so far, it sounds like you're in need of one," Calum told him. 

Ashton felt a small smile grow on his face. He may have lost a bunch of so-called friends today, but he also gained one. And it was one that actually cared about him instead of his popularity.

\----

Luke hadn't heard from Ashton ever since they had hung out with James the night before. It concerned Luke to a point, but considering that they weren't that close, it wasn't unusual that they didn't text all that often. But since Luke had texted him, he thought he would get a response back, which he didn't. 

He didn't expect for Ashton to drop everything and text him back just because his phone went off. Ashton had a life. Ashton was popular and had a whole bunch of other friends that he would most likely rather spend his free time with. Or Michael was stealing him away and Ashton felt guilty texting him while hanging out with the temporary mortal enemy. 

Luke still hadn't spoken to Michael. He didn't think it was worth it because he knew Michael would just get pissy and stubborn, so it was best to let Michael do the approaching. They've never got into a fight before, but Luke knew that Michael needed to be the one to confront the other person because he took a while to calm down. 

As Luke sat at the counter, eating some Nutella covered graham crackers, his phone beeped. He felt a wash of relief come over him, finding himself to be hopeful that it was Ashton.

_[From: Ashton Irwin]_

_hi. Sorry...do you want to come over? we have an ahs marathooooon. :D_

Luke smiled, happy that Ashton was inviting him over. He actually felt like they were becoming friends instead of acquaintances that wanted to kill each other. Luke scribbled down on a post-it note that he was going over to Ashton's house and he didn't know when he would be home before grabbing his keys and leaving. 

When he got to Ashton's, he saw an unfamiliar silver Grand Prix parked behind Ashton's Lexus. He didn't think anything of it, it was probably just James. He went up to the door, knocking and stood there until he heard Ashton yelling for him to "enter his humble abode". 

Luke walked into the house, hearing laughter coming from the back room. He was confused, being it didn't sound like James'. But he had only met the lad twice in his life, so he didn't think anything of it. 

Luke slipped off his shoes and then walked back into the back living room, seeing Ashton on one loveseat and a tan skinned boy with glasses on the other. He quirked his eyebrow, wondering who the strange boy was. He vaguely remembered seeing him at school, but what from he can remember, the boy was really quiet. The exact opposite of what Ashton was. 

"Hey, Ashton," Luke greeted awkwardly, not sure what the boy's name was in order to greet him properly.

"Hey, Luke! Have a seat," Ashton said, sitting up on the couch and patting the cushion next to him. 

Luke walked awkwardly over and sat down, feeling the stranger's eyes following him. He made himself as comfortable as he could and then looked over to the hazel eyed boy. "Who's this?" 

"Luke, this is Calum Hood. I met him at Starbucks this morning after some interesting events," Ashton introduced. "Calum, this is Luke Hemmings. We used to be mortal enemies."

"Hello," Luke said with a small smile. He looked back at Ashton. "What happened this morning?" 

"Oh, it was nothing really. Don't worry about it," Ashton said and then looked over to Calum, giving him some type of look that made him nod. Luke felt a pang of jealousy for some reason, but tried not to let it bother him. "Have you seen American Horror Story?" 

"Eh, not really. I've always wanted to watch it, but I never got around to it," Luke shrugged. 

"Well, you're lucky we're going to start with the first season. My ex-girlfriend Sierra used to be obsessed with this show and I've watched all the seasons. So, since you fuckers have been deprived, I'm going to show you some quality television," Ashton told them, picking up the Xbox controller, hitting play. 

Luke didn't like that Ashton was acting like he was trying to impress Calum. It reminded him of the popular Ashton that he hated. He liked the side of Ashton that he knew because he was real, he was himself. He wasn't trying to be someone he wasn't to impress people and win them over as friends. 

But Luke also didn't like the fact that Calum was anywhere near Ashton. It should just be Luke and Ashton watching American Horror Story together; not Luke, Ashton, and Calum. 

\----


	23. Chapter 23

Ashton noticed that Luke had been acting rather strange around Calum ever since they met at his place a few days ago. It was like Luke had something against the kid, but Ashton couldn't figure out what because Calum had done nothing wrong and hasn't acted any certain way other than a shy nerdy kid. He had invited Calum to sit with him and Luke at lunch and it was like Luke turned into a snobby bitch like Sierra and company were. When it was just Ashton and Luke, he was fine and didn't act like a little bitch at all.

He wanted to confront him about it, but he figured that he should talk to Michael since he knew him best. Ashton knew that Luke and Michael weren't talking to each other, but he didn't know why. All Michael told him was that Luke was acting immature and that he was to talk to Michael when he grew up. Ashton didn't think the two had ever fought, considering they used to be attached at the hip. In a way, he felt guilty and he wanted to help mend the fences because of how strong the two's friendship had been, but at the same time, he knew that it wasn't any of his business and he didn't want to meddle in it. It would mess things up more than they already were. 

So, instead of staying after school with Luke and keeping him company while he did his chemistry homework, Ashton went to Michael's house to talk to him and help him understand Luke. He hadn't talked to Michael as much because the boy kept his distance for some reason. He was curious, but he didn't want to ask and get into his business. 

It took a few knocks until Michael opened the door. He looked tired and slightly sad, which made Ashton extremely curious as to what was going on with him. 

"Hey, Ashton," Michael greeted with a tired smile.

"Hey, Michael," Ashton said, returning the smile. 

Michael opened the door wider and moved out of the way to let Ashton in. He had only been to his house once or twice and it always smelled like cinnamon. It was a nice smell in Ashton's mind. It made him think that Michael's mum was a good cook or baker even though he's never met her. 

Michael led Ashton up to his room, figuring that it was better to do their business up there in case his mum or dad would decide to come home from work early. Ashton had told him that he needed help with telling his mum and aunt about his newfound sexuality even though Michael wasn't gay and hasn't come out to anybody. He was just thinking that Ashton wanted him as moral support. 

Ashton sat down on Michael's bed and Michael closed the door and took a seat in his good ol' gaming chair. 

"And how can I help you today, Mr. Irwin?" Michael asked, making his voice all professional sounding and folded his hands. 

"Really?" Ashton asked, quirking his eyebrow in amusement. 

"What? I feel like a shrink," Michael joked, a smirk forming on his face. "Anyway, what's up?" 

"I needed to talk to you about-"

"Coming out to your parents even though I'm not gay," Michael finished. 

"No...actually, it's something else," Ashton admitted. 

"But you said on the phone that it was coming out," he pointed out.

"I know...and I lied. I didn't think that you would want to talk to me if I told you what I really wanted to talk about," Ashton said. Michael nodded, opening his mouth to say something, but Ashton beat him to it. "I can't help but notice that you and Luke barely ever speak to each other anymore, so I was kind of hesitant to ask you, so that's why I lied to you."

"You're right. Luke's acting like a little bitch, but I would help either of you if you needed it," Michael told him. "So, what's going on?"

Ashton told Michael about what happened with Ricky, Alec, Seth and Jack and how he had met Calum at Starbucks. And then he went into detail about how Luke acted like Calum had done something wrong when all he did was be the shy little nerd that he was and that Luke would never hang out with him if Calum was going to be there. 

Michael listened to him intently, probably already having came to conclusion about Luke's moody behavior. He felt bad that Ashton's "friends" had disowned him like that. It was like a real life Mean Girls, but with boys and without a burn book. Well, as far as Ashton and Michael knew, there wasn't one. 

"I've seen Luke act like this once before...and I think I know why he is, but I don't want you to start assuming and treat him differently," Michael started. 

"What do you mean? I won't treat him differently," Ashton asked, anxious to know what Michael was thinking was wrong with him. 

"Well, you might but I don't know. If it was me, I would be the jackass that would distance myself and ruin our friendship. I don't want you to do that, okay? I don't know for sure if he's acting like that because of this rea-"

"Would you just tell me the fucking reason already?" Ashton commanded, fighting the urge to take Michael by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. 

"The only time I saw him act like this was when he was friends with this girl named Christa. The three of us were really close friends, kind of like Luke and I are/were now. Christa started hanging out with this guy that you might know named Alec, when he had first moved here. She told Luke and I about her new found friendship with this guy and had even brought him around to hang out with us a time or two. Well, within the first meeting of him, Luke didn't like him one bit, so whenever Christa said she was bringing Alec with us somewhere, Luke didn't go. Christa and I talked about it and tried to figure out if Alec had done anything to him or if he knew him or something, but we couldn't figure it out. So, I went to Luke and asked him what was going on. It had turned out that he had had a crush on Christa and he didn't like the fact that she was spending time with Alec because he was scared of them becoming something more than friends," Michael explained.

"And what does that have to do with me?" Ashton asked. 

"I think he's feeling that way towards you. He's mad at me for hanging out with you and he doesn't like that you found Calum. This is a repeat of Christa for him," Michael said. Ashton raised his eyebrow, not believing what Michael was saying. 

"What?" he asked, unsure of what to say. 

"Ashton, Luke has feelings for you."

\----

Ashton didn't know what to do with the information that Michael had given him about Luke. He wasn't disgusted...he was pleased. But he didn't know how to talk to Luke now, given the things he now knew. As Michael said, he couldn't assume until Luke said it himself. 

Since he visited Michael, both Calum and Luke had texted and called him a few times, but he ignored it and turned his phone on airplane mode. He felt bad because he had made Luke feel jealous and unnerved, but he also felt bad for Calum because Luke didn't like him for no reason other than thinking that Calum was going to steal him away. He didn't really want to talk to either of them right now. Not until he got the whole Luke thing straightened out. 

"Ashton?" Clare said quietly, popping Ashton out of his thoughts of Luke and Calum. 

"Hey," he said with a small smile. 

"Is everything okay? Ever since you came home from your friend's house, you've been acting off," she pointed out. "Actually, you've been off for a while now." 

"I'm..." Ashton trailed. He wanted to open up to Clare, tell her about how he figured out that he was gay or bisexual. But there was the most common hesitance of whether or not she would accept him or be disappointed. The last thing he wanted to do was to disappoint his aunt that was one of the last people to think the world of him. 

"Ash? Is there something you need to tell me?" she asked, her hazel eyes big and glimmering in the sunlight seeping in from the window.

"Yes."

\----


	24. Chapter 24

"Ashton, what is it?" Clare asked, looking worried. 

"You have to promise me that you're not going to get...no, you have to promise me that you're going to hear me out and let me finish," Ashton told her, making his poor aunt grow more and more concerned. 

"Just tell me, Ashton. I'm becoming really worried," she pressed. 

Ashton took a deep breath, still unsure if he could do this, but he knew that he had to in order for him to feel better. "I...I'm gay. Or bisexual. I'm not for sure since I had the whole relationship with Sierra, but I know that at least half of me is gay."

"What? How do you know that you're gay?" she asked.

Ashton told her everything. He told her about Ricky's party, getting stuck with Luke in the closet, how his "friends" disowned him, Calum...everything. She listened and occasionally nodded, but Ashton couldn't tell if she was mad or if she accepted it. That's what was bothering him the most and he was praying the entire time that she would be accepting of him. 

"So, you're saying that you have a crush on this boy?" Clare asked.

"Y-yeah...I do. Please don't be mad, Clare," Ashton said, literally begging her. 

"I'm not mad, honey. I didn't expect it is all. Does your mother know about this?" she asked. Ashton shook his head. "I think you need to tell her. She is your mother after all." 

Ashton knew that she was right. He did need to tell her and being that he got the confidence up to tell Clare, who was with Ashton most of the time, he knew that he could get the confidence to talk to his mum. The only thing he was fearing was that she would disown him. It was different with Clare; she could disown him and just go back home and not come back. If his mother disowned him, she would probably kick him to the curb. 

He wished that there wouldn't be that threat of being disowned. It shouldn't matter who a person loves because that isn't what defines a person. There's all these stories of how people's parents reject them just because they like the same gender and it saddens Ashton because it isn't fair. It's as if the parents think their child turned into Satan when really, they just fell in love. 

"I know...she won't be mad, will she?" Ashton asked, hoping the answer would be no.

"I don't think so. She's pretty accepting of things," Clare told him. 

"Don't tell Lauren and Harry. Please. I don't want them to know yet," Ashton told her.

"I won't, don't worry. It's not my place to. Whenever you're ready to, then you go ahead and tell them. Don't let anyone push you," she told him, giving him a hug. "Now, tell me about this boy. What's he like?"

\----

Luke was sitting in his room, as usual, Netflix on and attempting to do his homework. He was more interested in figuring out who the murderer was on the episode of Criminal Minds than he was finding out the slope of an exponential function. Honestly, learning about the guy who rips people's genitals off is more fun. 

Luke's phone suddenly started to vibrate on his nightstand next to him. He picked it up and looked to see that it was a text from Michael. He didn't expect for him to talk to him ever again if he was honest. 

**From: Mikey**

**If you keep treating Calum the way you did Alec, you're going to lose Ashton just like you did Christa. I don't want you to go through that again, so that's why I'm telling you this.**

He reread the message, feeling a bit angry that Ashton had to involve Michael, but then felt thankful because of Michael's warning. He didn't want to go through what he did with Christa again. He couldn't handle it. The way their friendship had ended was petty and he regrets it. He doesn't want the same type of thing to happen with Ashton, especially since they had only just become friends. 

Luke wanted to reply back, but he didn't know what he should say. So, he just typed 'Thank you' and hit send. He felt like a dick, considering he had been one to Michael for a while, but he didn't know what else he could say. He hoped Michael would know that, but he couldn't be too sure. 

He went back to watching Dr. Spencer Reid theorizing about the killer's motive when his phone buzzed again, seeing that it was Michael responding. What could he possibly respond to 'Thank you' with? Well, other than 'you're welcome', but Michael was never one to say that, especially in text. 

**From: Mikey**

**You should tell him how you feel. I can promise that he feels the same.**

Now, Luke thought that Michael was just plotting against him to ruin his life. Michael doesn't know whether or not Luke has feelings for Ashton, so he figured that Michael just wanted to see him suffer embarrassment like the 'real' friend he was. 

**To: Mikey**

**I don't have a crush on Ashton.**

He sent, knowing full well that he was lying and he figured that Michael would just reply back with 'you're in denial'. He wasn't in denial. He knew that he liked Ashton, but he didn't need Michael to know that. Not now. Not until they had everything fixed between them. 

**From: Mikey**

**Don't lie, Lucifer. Ashton told me how you acted towards Calum and it sounded just like you acted with Alec and Christa. Ashton may be oblivious, but I'm not. You need to tell him before you go too far and lose him.**

Maybe Michael was right. But Luke didn't want him to be. He didn't want to confront Ashton with that. Luke was happy with the way things were, other than Calum. But he didn't want to lose Ashton either. It seemed that the only choices were tell Ashton or lose Ashton. Luke didn't want either. 

\----

Anne would be getting home any minute and Ashton was pacing around the living room, nervous. He didn't want his mother to disown him. He wished it was easier and less scary than it was. He wanted this to be as easy as it was to tell her about Sierra when they had first started going out, but it wasn't going to be. 

He heard a car door slam outside and his heart rate picked up, causing him to pace more and more. Clare came out from the kitchen and stepped in front of Ashton, placing her hands on his shoulders. 

"Ashton Fletcher, stop pacing before you put ruts into the floor. Everything will be fine," Clare reassured, but it didn't make Ashton feel any better. 

Anne walked in, smiling when seeing Ashton standing there. "Hi, Ash."

"Hi, mum," he gulped. 

"Is everything okay?" she wondered. 

"Everything's fine. Why don't you two take a seat at the table? I have a fresh batch of brownies coming up in two minutes," Clare suggested. 

Anne and Ashton went into the dining room, taking a spot across from each other. Anne took out her phone as soon as it beeped, so Ashton didn't have to worry about not knowing what to say. Within minutes, Clare came out with a plate of brownies and two glasses of milk. She took a seat next to Ashton, grabbing his hand underneath the table in attempt to comfort him. 

"Clare, where are Lauren and Harry?" Anne asked. 

"They're at a friend's house. Ashton actually wanted to tell you something that was kind of important. Actually, it's very important," Clare said.

Anne looked to Ashton, taking a sip of the milk. "Okay. What is it, Ash?"

"Can you promise me that you'll hear me out? You can be mad after I tell you," Ashton requested of her. 

"Yes. What's going on, Ashton? You didn't get a girl pregnant, did you?" she asked, which caused Ashton to want to laugh. 

"No. Believe me, no. That's not going to happen, trust me," Ashton told her with a slight chuckle. 

"Well, what is it then?" she wondered. 

Clare gave Ashton's hand a reassuring squeeze which gave him just the right amount of confidence to tell her. "Mum, I'm gay." 

\----


	25. Chapter 25

Luke didn't know how to tell Ashton. He's never had to necessarily do this kind of thing before. He had texted him, telling him that he wanted to talk to him and to meet him at Edwin's ice cream at 8:30, but Ashton hadn't responded or read it. He didn't want to wait for it because he was nervous. He wanted Ashton to text him right away and tell him 'okay, I'll be there' or something to that effect. 

Michael hadn't texted Luke since and Luke didn't want to bother him by asking what the hell he should do or say to him in order to tell him. He didn't feel like that would be appropriate since they weren't on the best of terms. So, he was going to wing it. Probably make a complete ass of himself, but he was going to wing it. 

After another few minutes of agonizing waiting, Luke decided to take his mind off of it and log onto Youtube. Usually, Connor or Troye or Joe or Caspar would calm him down. They would make time go by faster. Luke went to his subscriptions and clicked on a random name (that name being Joe Sugg) and clicked on the **WHAT DID YOU SEND US?!** video, figuring the entertainment of Joe and Caspar opening fanmail would calm his nerves. 

He got through all of the fanmail videos and then checked his phone, hoping that he was too distracted by Joe and Caspar's laughing and tom foolery to have heard his phone go off. But when he clicked on the iPhone, his lock screen only showed the picture of him and Michael on Halloween last year. He felt a twinge of panic, hoping that Ashton would hurry the hell up and respond. The time was only eight, so hopefully Ashton would just show up there. 

Luke grabbed his wallet and keys and snuck down the stairs and out the door to start heading to Edwin's. He wouldn't hear the phone if he was driving since he would have the radio on and be too focused on the road to care. Plus, by the time he was going to get there, it was going to be close to being 8:30 and Ashton would hopefully just be there waiting for him. 

Since Luke didn't live too far from Edwin's, he took the long way there, going through the residential neighborhoods instead of the main road. It would double his time getting there and it would also give Luke more time to calm himself down. 

Being it was so late at night, Edwin's wasn't going to be that busy and it would be easy for Ashton to find Luke or vice versa. He looked down at the car radio, seeing that it 4 minutes to and figured he better get to Edwin's before Ashton did since Luke was the one that initiated the meeting. 

He parked in the place next to the door and walked into the mostly empty ice cream shop. There was only one other elderly couple in there and the employees. No Ashton. 

"Can I help you, sir?" the employee behind the counter asked Luke. 

"Um, yeah. Can I have a small cookies 'n cream bowl?" Luke asked, continuing to glance around for Ashton or Ashton's car. 

The employee told him his total and Luke paid him, backing up to the wall as he waited for his ice cream to be made. He checked his phone, hoping that Ashton had at least seen his text. 

There wasn't a response, so Luke unlocked it and went to the message app, and Ashton had seen the message! That meant he was probably on his way and Luke could get this off of his chest. 

"Small cookies 'n cream bowl?" a different employee asked, sliding the bowl across the counter to Luke. 

Luke grabbed it and took the corner two person booth, sitting on the side that faced the door. He ate his ice cream slowly, wanting something to occupy him while he talked to Ashton. Just to help his overactive nerves.

\----

"Sir, we're going to be closing in a half hour," the manager, Lillian, said. 

Luke was now all alone in the ice cream shop. The elderly couple had left about five minutes after he'd sat down and that was an hour ago. It was 9:30 and there was no sign or response from Ashton. Luke had been stood up. He at least thought that Ashton would have the wherewithal to at least tell him that he couldn't make it or that he was running late or just some excuse so Luke wouldn't have to waste his time. But no, he didn't. 

Liz had called Luke, frantic as to where he had snuck off to. He told her that his friend was having some issues with some things and not to worry. He knew that she would ask him if everything was okay, especially since he was gone a hell of a lot longer than he thought he would be. But that was Ashton's fault. 

He didn't know if he should continue waiting for him or if he should just get up and leave, making Ashton think that Luke stood him up. There was two sides to him in this situation and he   
didn't know which one was the better choice. 

"What's got you hanging around here all by yourself, son?" the older woman employee asked. 

"Just waiting for a friend," Luke shrugged. 

"You've been here an awfully long time. When were you supposed to meet them?" she wondered.

"Eight-thirty," he said quietly, avoiding the sweet old lady's eyes. 

She was quiet for a minute and then put her soft hand gently on Luke's. "I don't think they're coming, dear. Was it something important you needed to talk about or was it one of those blasted internet dating meets?"

Luke sighed and decided that he needed to talk to someone right then and there, so he told her everything. He told her about everything (minus certain details about the party) and then what he had even come to talk to him about. She listened and didn't seem like she was disgusted in Luke or anything. She was actually quite understanding of everything. 

"I wouldn't say he's angry with you from what you've told me. Maybe he has something going on at home? I wouldn't jump to any terrible conclusions just yet. Wait for him to tell you what happened. Maybe he was in the middle of something when he got your text and forgot to respond. I know that my son does that quite a bit," she said. "Don't worry about it, dear. Everything will work itself out."

"I hope you're right. I really do like him and I don't want him to be mad at me for anything," Luke told her. 

"You'll be alright. I think the best thing for you is to go home and go to sleep for the night and then deal with this boy at school. You're pretty nervous about telling him this and about him standing you up. Sleep is the best medicine for you," she said with a small smile. 

Luke returned it, thankful that the woman was around to somewhat calm his nerves. "Thanks, erm..."

"Joyce."

"Thanks, Joyce. It feels good to tell somebody this. I needed to let it all out," Luke admitted. 

"I'm glad I was here to listen. You're a nice boy. I hope all goes well for you," Joyce smiled. 

"Now, I better get back to work before I lose my job. Sleep well, Luke."

"Thanks, Joyce. Have a good night," he smiled.

The two got up from the booth and went their separate ways. He threw the empty styrofoam bowl into the trash can and smiled at Joyce again before he left. He went outside and was surprised there wasn't much traffic, but then again, it was nearly 10:00. 

Once he was in his car, he opened his phone and went into his text messages, composing one to Ashton.

**To: Ashton Irwin**

**Are you okay?**

\----


	26. Chapter 26

Anne had taken the news of her son being gay pretty well, Ashton thought. He didn't expect it, but he did at the same time. Either way, he was happy that neither Anne or Clare had disowned him or thought less of him. Those were the two most important people in his life. If they would've reacted badly, there is no way Ashton would be able to cope with himself. He'd be heartbroken. 

After a night of laughing at the dinner table, eating ice cream and playing games, Ashton decided that it was finally time for him to go to bed at the late hour of eleven. He dragged his feet going upstairs, not wanting to go too fast since his body was tired and stiff from sitting in the wooden chairs. Once he was to his room, he went to his dresser to check his phone. 

When he unplugged it from its charger and clicked it on, he was greeted with fifteen new calls and a text from Luke, he immediately slapped himself across the face. He had completely forgot to respond to Luke! He saw the message, but couldn't read it all the way because his phone died before he got a chance to process what it said. Quickly hitting reply, Ashton typed out a message. 

**To: Luke**

**Sorry I didn't respond. Phone died before I could.**

He set his phone back on the dresser and stripped down to his boxers to get ready for bed. He was hoping that nothing terrible happened. That would make Ashton feel even shittier than he already did. But he did figure that it must have been somewhat important since Luke didn't tell him over text. 

After Ashton got his old t-shirt on, he went over to check his phone for Luke's reply. He frowned when he read the message. 

**From: Luke**

**Yeah. I'm sure it did. Doesn't matter anymore, Ashton. Don't talk to me again since you couldn't even take the time out of your schedule to meet me. It was important, but you were probably too busy sucking Calum off to give a shit.**

Ashton didn't know how to respond to it. Whatever Luke had to tell him must have been pretty important because he was surely pissed. But Ashton couldn't blame him for being upset. He unintentionally stood him up. Luke had probably shown up at Edwin's and waited for Ashton, but he never showed. It made him feel like a horrible friend for doing that. But Luke was going to have to understand that his phone actually did die. He wasn't making that bit up and he wanted Luke to realize that. He also wanted Luke to realize that there isn't - or ever was - anything going on between him and Calum. They're just friends. Calum was the one that offered to be there for him when he needed to talk that day. It was an innocent friendship. 

Ashton decided not to reply to the text until the morning, figuring that would be best. That way, the two of them were able to sleep and hopefully Luke would wake up less angry. It was a hope Ashton had, but knowing that Luke could be stubborn, he didn't want to get his hopes up too high. Especially knowing the Christa situation, he wasn't going to hold any hopes towards Luke ever feeling anything other than hatred for poor Calum.   
\----  
When Ashton woke up the next morning, he was feeling refreshed. He was of the thinking that it was because he got that off of his chest and came out to Anne and Clare. The only other people he needed to tell would be James and his siblings. He didn't think any of them would care all that much. It didn't change who Ashton was. The only thing that would be different when him and James hung out would be that Ashton would be looking at guy's asses more than he would girl's. Maybe equally both, but Ashton wasn't sure. 

Lauren and Harry certainly weren't going to care. Lauren was pretty accepting of all people, gay or straight. And Harry was too young to know what sexuality was to begin with, so it wasn't going to be all that confusing to him. He would just tell him that he liked boys and Harry would probably not even question it. At least, not until he got older and started to understand more. 

He got out of bed, grabbing a pair of his sweatpants so he didn't scare his family members with his tight compression boxers. They did show off quite a bit of his gold, not to brag or anything. He checked his phone, seeing if there was anymore messages from Luke, but there were only Facebook birthday notifications. 

It wasn't that Ashton expected there to be anymore messages from Luke, but in a way, he was hoping there would've been. And he was hoping that they would've been apologetic ones because he wasn't too ecstatic about getting the hate from one of his only friends. He didn't want to lose anymore than he already had, but it seemed like Luke wanted to by the attitude he had. 

He grabbed his phone up, deciding to reply to Luke's last message, figuring that it was best to get this solved and taken care of now rather than later. He didn't know what to say. What Luke said was rather rude in Ashton's opinion and Ashton didn't want to be rude to Luke in return. That would only be feeding the fire and the flame was high enough. 

**To: Luke**

**There's nothing going on between Calum and me. I don't even know if he's gay, jfc. I know you don't like him, but respect my friendship with him. I'd respect it if it was you. Also, my phone did die. Not only that, but I couldn't have met you anyway. I was having a very important conversation with my family and I couldn't just walk away from them. So.**

Ashton read over the text message, feeling that it was blunt and sort of mean, but he wasn't insulting Luke. He was simply stating the facts and he couldn't be sorry for that. It's what was needed to be said and if Luke couldn't accept that, then he was going to have to just leave Ashton alone, even though that's not what Ashton wanted. Ashton liked Luke. He didn't want to lose him over something this petty. 

He checked the time, figuring that it was probably too early for Luke to be up to respond to him, so Ashton placed his phone in his sweatpants pocket and decided to go downstairs to eat breakfast with his family. 

When he got downstairs, he smelled the sweet smell of maple syrup and waffles. He glanced out the window to see if Clare's car was in the driveway, but it wasn't to Ashton's surprise. His mum couldn't be making breakfast, could she? At least, not this early. It was barely eight in the morning. She was usually sleeping at this time. 

He walked into the kitchen, seeing Anne in her black t-shirt and pink Minnie Mouse pajama pants with her hair tied up in a messy bun as she stood at the stove. Ashton couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He hadn't seen his mum cooking a breakfast like that in a long time. The last time he could remember was when he was little, probably when he was seven or so. 

"You're up early today," Ashton said, leaning against the refrigerator.

"As are you, my dear," Anne said, turning around to see her eldest son. "I hope you're craving waffles."

"I am actually," Ashton smiled, taking a seat at the counter. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he quickly fished it out, anxious to see what Luke had to say. 

**From: Luke**

**Fine. Whatever. If you care enough to know what I had to tell you, meet me at the school fence where you came onto me the 2nd time at noon.**

\----


	27. Chapter 27

Luke stood at the fence, waiting for Ashton to show up. It was beginning to sprinkle and Luke wasn't liking the looks of the cloudy sky. Ashton better show up this time, otherwise Luke was going to be so pissed that he would go to Ashton's and personally murder him. He was also the only one at school, so it felt like he was breaking the law by being there. Luckily, the police weren't driving by.

Luke kicked the little rock underneath his foot, his hands in his pockets. He couldn't believe that he was going to tell Ashton, this time being for real. As much as he'd like to think that he was mentally prepared, he knew that he wasn't. He was pretty sure that he would freeze as soon as Ashton looked at him with those mesmerizing hazel eyes. 

That's what Luke hated about having a crush on someone. If you fell hard, it was a chore to get enough balls to be able to talk to them like a normal human being and not sound like you were from a different country by speaking gibberish and not making any sense at all. Luke was actually pretty impressed with himself though, because he had fallen hard for Ashton, yet he could still speak to him as if he was still a friend.

But then he remembered that it happened the same way with Christa. He had a huge crush on her and talked to her like a friend, but then Alec came into the picture and virtually ruined everything. Luke had hated Alec so much that he started to treat Christa rude as well, as if he was mad at her. He was, but he didn't have to show it like he did. It actually got to a point where all Luke would do was be cold and literally yell at Christa for anything she said. 

Luke cringed at the memory of the very last time they spoke. She was talking to Michael about some plans to go to a pumpkin patch with Alec that weekend with her baby cousins and then carve them afterwards. Luke had felt so much jealousy and anger rushing through his body, that he didn't even know what he was doing until after he did it. She was telling Mikey how excited she was when Luke went in there and yelled at her. It ended with him telling her to get out of his life, so she did. A few months later, she ended up moving away. 

He hasn't talked to her since and Michael hasn't either, despite following and being friends with her on social media. Luke has always tried to think of an apology to her, but he's just too embarrassed to face her, even though he would be behind a screen. 

Luke didn't want what had happened with Christa to happen with Ashton, especially now that Calum's hanging around. The difference between Christa and Ashton, though, was that Luke was going to actually tell Ashton about his feelings for him, whereas Christa wasn't aware of those feelings that Luke used to have. If he would've said something, they might still be friends now. 

There was scuffling behind him and Luke quickly spun around, ready to deck someone. But he was greeted with the sweet face of Ashton. Luke let his guard drop and looked at him. "I'm surprised. You showed." 

"Luke, I'm serious about my phone dying and the conversation with my mum and aunt. I didn't know you wanted me to meet you there," Ashton said. 

"What was the conversation? I mean, no offense, but your mum isn't around all the time," Luke pointed out. 

"I was telling her that I was gay," he deadpanned. "Clare already knew and she was just being there to support me, which was much appreciated." 

"Did they accept you?" he asked, hoping that the answer was yes. 

"Yeah, they did. I actually told them about-" Ashton stopped himself.

Luke quirked his eyebrow, wanting to know the rest of what he was going to say. "Told them about what?" 

"I...it's nothing," Ashton scrambled. "Anyway, what did you want to tell me?" 

Luke took a deep breath and brought his eyes up to look at Ashton's questioning face. Luke's heart jumped as he saw how adorable he looked in the grey beanie that was on his head. It made him look even more huggable than he already did. 

"I...well, before I tell you, you have to promise me that you won't get mad and you'll hear me out? You can't run away from me," Luke started. 

Ashton shifted uneasily. "It depends what it is, but yeah, I'll hear you out." 

Despite that being what Luke wanted to hear, he still wasn't feeling ready to tell him. Ashton looked at him, anxiously waiting for what Luke was going to tell him. The thing was. Luke didn't want to be rejected. He had a hard time with that. If he didn't fear it, he would've told him by now. 

"Luke? Are you okay?" Ashton asked. "You're pale. What's going on, Luke?" 

"Nothing is wrong. I'm fine...I just don't know how to put everything," Luke explained. 

Ashton reached out and gently grabbed Luke's arm. "I'm sure that I'll understand in whatever way you put it. I'm a pretty understanding lad, Luke."

That's what gave Luke the courage to come out with it. He remembered that Ashton was actually rather 'chill', for lack of a better term. Luke took another deep breath and then let the words string themselves together.

"Ashton, I...I like you. As in more than a friend. I have feelings for you. Ever since Ricky's party. I _enjoyed_ making out with you in that closet and when you kissed me here, I enjoyed you. I love hanging out with you and you only," Luke rambled, watching Ashton's face for any sign of expression, but didn't see anything. "That's why I don't like Calum. I'm jealous of how much time he spends with you and I'm scared that I'm going to lose you to him and I don't want that. I understand if you never talk to me again and just completely reject me, right here, right now. I'm not your type, I kn-"

"Would you shut up already?" Ashton said, cutting him off.

Luke looked at him, shocked at his response. That was definitely not what he expected or wanted. "I would've accepted a simple "I'm not interested"."

"I didn't say that I wasn't interested. You were rambling and I couldn't think of a different way to make you stop," Ashton said, saying the first part so fast that Luke wouldn't have caught it if he wouldn't have been paying attention. 

"Wait - are you interested?" Luke asked. "There's no way you are. I mean, I'm not what you-"

"But I am interested and you are what I'd go for," Ashton answered softly. 

Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ashton actually felt the same way about him. That's never happened to him before and frankly, he didn't know how to react. 

"Luke, I...I like you. A lot, actually. I just...I didn't know how to tell you, I guess?" Ashton admitted. 

The two of them stood quietly for a few minutes, letting the raindrops sprinkle down on them. Luke didn't know what to do or say. Ashton had just confessed his feelings for him and it all felt like a dream to Luke. 

"So, now what?" Ashton asked, as if he was reading Luke's mind. 

"I don't know..." Luke trailed. 

Ashton quickly leaned up and kissed the taller boy on his cheek, figuring that would fill the silence. Luke didn't mind because, well, it was Ashton. But he did chuckle a little. 

"Can we....can we not tell anyone about this yet? I'm not ready for everyone to know," Ashton whispered. 

"Yeah, yeah. That's fine," Luke agreed. "I don't think I am either."

\----


	28. Chapter 28

Luke was sitting in his room, alone and rewatching the first season of American Horror Story once again. It had been about five hours or so since he had met with Ashton and the two had confessed their feelings to each other. Luke was so happy that Ashton had felt the same way he did and he wanted to tell someone about his excitement, but there wasn't anyone he had to talk about it with. His mum didn't know about his sexuality, Michael wasn't his friend anymore, and he really didn't like Calum even if Ashton reassured him that there was nothing going on. Luke just couldn't get over that stint of hatred that quick. It would take a bit of time. 

With a sigh, Luke looked around his lonely room, his eyes landing on the picture of him and Michael at the Connor Franta meet and greet from a few months ago. Luke felt himself get a little sad because the boys in the picture were smiling and extremely happy, holding their meet and greet lanyards as if they were made out of gold. Luke missed those happy memories that he had with his best friend that he knew he wouldn't get back. He wouldn't get to make more of them unless he attempted to fix it. 

Taking a deep breath, Luke unlocked his phone and brought up Michael's contact, knowing that it would probably take more than an 'I'm sorry' to make everything okay again, but Luke knew that no matter how much work it would take, they were going to become friends again. There's no way that they could stay fighting like this forever. Luke knew that eventually, one of them would have to talk to one another. 

Luke picked at his nails as the phone rang. He was nervous, even though there was virtually nothing to be nervous about. He came to the conclusion that it was just because he hasn't properly spoken to Michael in a few weeks and the way they had left things wasn't necessarily on a good note. 

_"What is it, Luke?"_ Michael answered, his voice tired. 

"I...I wanted to talk to you," Luke told him. 

_"Why? To yell at me about hanging out with Ashton? Well, you'll be happy to know that I haven't hung out with him in a while,"_ Michael said, sounding irritated with Luke. 

"I did want to talk to you about that, but I wanted to apologize," he started. He wanted to tell Michael about Ashton, but he didn't at the same time. "I didn't mean to yell at you like that. It...I don't know what got into me. It was childish and I shouldn't have done that."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, not for long, but it felt like hours to Luke. Michael sighed before responding. _"I know. You've been acting weird for a while and I just figured that it was best to leave you alone. So I did. Figured you would come back when you calmed down and well, here we are."_

Luke took a deep breath and a smile formed on his face. "I guess I just realized how much I missed you and how bored I was without you."

 _"I'll accept that,"_ Michael laughed.

\----

Luke was on his way in his old clunker of a car to pick up Michael. After they had finished talking on the phone, Ashton had called Luke, asking him if he wanted to hangout with him and Calum. Luke told him that Michael and he had made up and that's how Michael got invited over too. 

Michael had never met or heard of Calum before in his life, the first time hearing about him was when Ashton had told him about him. He figured the kid sounded nice enough, so he was willing to make room in his life for another friend. It's not like he had that many to start out with anyway. 

The ride to Ashton's was just like old times, as if they never stopped talking to each other. They playfully bickered over the radio, Youtubers, American Horror Story...and Michael's wish for bright red hair. Luke thought it was a bad idea, mainly because Michael was so new to dying his hair. But he knew that whatever he said wouldn't be able to stop Michael because he was so determined. Personally, Luke was terrified that he would look like Michael Clifford the Big Red Dog. 

They pulled outside of Ashton's house, seeing that Calum's car was already there. Luke took a deep breath, realizing that he had nothing to hate Calum for. He never did technically, but now that he knew that Ashton was in his court, he didn't have to be mad. 

"Luke, you okay?" Michael asked, noticing that his friend looked like he was terrified to enter the house. 

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was just thinking," Luke answered, shaking himself out of his thoughts. 

"No wonder you looked terrified," Michael smirked, earning a playful shove from Luke. 

The two boys went up to the door and Luke knocked, Ashton answering only seconds later. Michael observed as Ashton and Luke looked at each other with such endearment, wondering why they looked so fond of each other. It wasn't the look that friends usually gave each other. 

"Hey, guys," Ashton smiled. "I'm glad to see that you two finally made up." 

"Same here," Luke nodded, not taking his eyes off of Ashton. 

"I'm glad that I don't have to be a pathetic loser on Saturday nights alone anymore. It was starting to make me consider actually going out and having a social life," Michael admitted. Luke faked shock, covering his mouth with his hand. "I know, scary, isn't it?" 

The three walked into the living room where Calum was on the couch, sprawled out and comfortable as he read something. Luke tried to look at him as something other than the guy who was going to steal Ashton from him, but it was hard. 

"Hey, Cal," Ashton called to him, getting the boy to look towards them. Luke tried not to flinch at the nickname, remembering that Ashton was his. "This is Michael Clifford. Michael, this is Calum Hood." 

"Hello, Calum," Michael said. 

"Hey, Michael," Calum smiled. 

The four began to discuss what they wanted to do, not able to agree on anything. Well, more like, they were too lazy to want to actually get up and do it. So, they decided that they were just going to watch movies for the rest of the day. Michael insisted on sharing the couch with Calum since he wanted to get to know him and "bond", in his words. Which left Ashton and Luke on the opposite couch, not they were going to complain. The only thing that they couldn't do was act like they liked each other more than friends since they didn't want to tell anyone about their mutual feelings yet. They weren't even official. 

\----

Halfway through the second movie, We're The Millers, Michael and Calum were asleep. Ashton and Luke actually felt safe enough to somewhat cuddle with each other, so that's what they were doing, both of them starting to nod off. 

Luke's arms were around Ashton's shoulders, who was nuzzled into Luke underneath the rather small fleece brown blanket. It was something neither of them would've dreamed of happening a few weeks ago. Hell, they both thought that they would be punching the fuck out of each other before they would be cuddling. Funny world, eh?

Ashton readjusted himself so he could easily fall asleep on Luke. His eyes were fluttering and he looked as if he could pass out at any given moment. Luke made sure that he was comfortable enough and moved around without knocking the shorter lad off of him. He himself was about to fall asleep with Ashton in his arms. 

Just as Ashton's eyes fluttered shut, the opposite couch was moving and then there was yelling, waking everyone and their brother within fifty miles of them. 

"What the actual fuck?! You two are cuddling?!" Michael yelled, going from sitting comfortably on the couch to standing where his butt had once been and pointing at the two sleepy boys. "You guys are together?! Oh my balls, this is epic. I knew this was going to happen, holy shit bag. Calum, I totally called this tom foolery. I called it!" 

"What the hell did you call exactly?" Calum asked with a groggy voice, not very overjoyed about being woken up so rudely.

"That Luke and Ashton were dating! I fucking swore on Tronnor that it would happen!" Michael celebrated. "And you're not even denying it!"

"Clifford, you tell anyone, I will kill you with my bare hands," Ashton threatened through gritted teeth. "Same goes for you, Calum."

"Does it look like I talk to anybody other than you guys?" Calum said and then rolled over so he was facing the back of the couch. "Now shut the hell up, Michael."

"Sassy," Michael said to Calum and then turned his attention back to the two cuddlers. "Hey, I won't say a word to a soul. But I ship it so fucking hard, I can't even handle it. I ship it more than Tronnor."

"Who's Tronnor?" Ashton whispered to Luke.

"Michael and I's favorite Youtubers, Troye Sivan and Connor Franta. Don't ask for an explanation. It's too much work for you nonbelievers," Luke answered. 

"Lashton will rise," Michael said, his voice deep like Darth Vader.

"Would you just shut up and let the rest of us sleep?"

\----


	29. Chapter 29

Ashton and Luke decided to go to school together that Monday, not even caring that they were going to be seen together because as far as Ashton was concerned, he wasn't popular anymore and they weren't going to pick on Luke for trying to hang out with him. Ashton liked Luke; he wasn't going to make him feel like he didn't by running from him. They just weren't going to show any PDA yet because they were still trying to process things.

They were still getting comfortable with each other, so when Luke grabbed loosely onto Ashton's hand over the console, it was slightly awkward. For both of them for that matter because Luke had never had a significant other, so he didn't know what the hell he was doing, and Ashton was only used to holding hands with girls. It was going to take a bit of time to start getting used to, but that wasn't going to be a problem because they were both going to go through it together. 

"So, this is weird," Luke blurted. 

"What?" Ashton asked, figuring that he was referring to their hands entwined. 

"I'm not driving to school," Luke answered. 

"Oh. Well, I'm enjoying your company if it makes it less weird," Ashton replied, not sure of what else to say.

Luke chuckled. "Same to you."

"Maybe we could switch off like every other day or something?" Ashton suggested, his attempt at making conversation was seriously sucking ass. 

"No, it doesn't matter. But if you want to, that's fine. We'll save each other's gas money," he said. 

The two went quiet, an awkward silence filling the small car. Ashton didn't know what the hell was going on with him and why he got so awkward all of a sudden. He used to be smooth as hell and flirty and a professional when it came to this type of thing. But now he's a stuttering, awkward mess. It's like Luke brought this unknown side of him out. 

They got to school, the parking lot starting to fill up. Ashton was relieved to see that his old 'friends' didn't decide to deprive him of his parking spot. It was just a parking spot, but it had been Ashton's ever since he got his own car and it was close to the school. It was perfect if it was raining and it was perfect to show off his beautiful car. He sounded like he was one of those assholes who loved his car more than his own mother. 

Luke looked over at Ashton, his blue eyes twinkling. Ashton glanced down at their entwined hands, seeing that neither of them were ready to let go. It was actually rather adorable from an outsider's point of view. 

"I guess it's time for us to split ways," Luke said solemnly. 

"What do you mean?" Ashton wondered, furrowing his brow. 

"If we don't want anyone to be suspicious or anything, we can't be seen together. They tease me for being a nerd and most recently, gay. If we're seen together, then you'll get teased around too," Luke told him. 

"I don't give a shit if they tease me because as far as they know, we're both still straight. And don't listen to them. Just because we made out in a closet, doesn't mean it meant anything," Ashton said with a wink. 

"Oh please. You were putty in my hands," Luke scoffed with a smile. 

"If that's what helps you sleep at night, Hemmo," Ashton joked, not noticing Luke blushing at the nickname. 

The two of them got out of the car and walked into the school together. A few people gave them weird glances, most were probably because they never saw Luke and Ashton together as friends like they were now. They only knew Ashton and Luke as enemies. It was refreshing that they watched as they shocked the shit out of people by just walking down the hallway. 

Luke stopped at his locker and Ashton decided that it was his duty as Luke's potential boyfriend to wait for Luke and then go to his locker, which wasn't agonizingly far away. Luke just looked at him, confused at first but then shrugged, dialing in his locker combination. 

"Why are you waiting for me? Don't you have your own things to get?" Luke asked, grabbing out his AP chemistry book. 

"I do, but I like you and I want to be with you as much as I possibly can," Ashton said confidently. 

Luke's eyes widened and he nodded towards Ricky and company, who were casually glancing over at them every now and again. But surprisingly, Ashton didn't care as much. He knew that they couldn't have heard him, so it wasn't like they were going to hold that over his head. The only thing that they would harass him for was the fact that he was buddy-buddy with the nerd. Which wouldn't bother him that much because Ashton realized how attractive he found intelligence, especially of Luke's caliber. 

"Ashton, you need to be careful of what you say," Luke whispered to him, his blue eyes flicking over to the tribe of assholes every now and again. "I like you too, but I don't want either of us to go through the hell of harassment that every outed kid and/or couple do."

"I know...sometimes I can't help it," Ashton admitted, surprising himself for saying that. 

Luke gave him a small smile as his cheeks tinted a light shade of pink. Ashton loved watching Luke blush because it made him so much more adorable and it fed Ashton's ego, knowing that he was able to get under the boy's skin like that. It was fun. 

"I have to talk to Mr. Depy about the chem assignment, so I hope it's not terrible of me to not go with you to your locker," Luke told him, his teeth clenched, waiting for Ashton to bitch him out royally. 

"No, that's fine, bug," Ashton smiled. "Don't worry about it. Are you and Michael going to join Calum and I for lunch?"

"I don't know...I mean, spending an hour with you?" Luke joked, smirking. "Yeah, definitely."

The two smiled, both of them picturing them kissing each other on the cheek, but they knew that would be the kiss of death in this school, so they stuck with looking longingly at each other and picturing it in their minds. Luke turned away from Ashton and went towards the science wing of the school, leaving Ashton standing next to his locker, watching the blonde walk down the hallway. Before it looked anymore suspicious, he turned and started off to his locker. He looked over to see if Ricky and company were still watching him, but they were gone. 

Good riddance.

\----

Luke was walking down the mostly empty science hallway with his books held at his side. He felt actually really happy for once on a Monday morning and he knew that it was because of Ashton. He never thought that the boy that he used to hate with a burning passion would one day make him happy and cause a flock of butterflies to arise in his stomach every time he was with him. 

"Whatchya smiling at, nerd?" a male's voice rang out. 

Luke looked up, the smile that he didn't realize he had until then falling into a frown. It was Ricky and his friends. "Nothing that concerns you, that's for sure." 

"Well, being that we're Ashton's teammates, we deserve to know what his...special friend is smiling about," Seth chimed in, an evil smirk appearing on his face. "Are you thinking about his thick and long dick?"

"No," Luke said, his voice squeaking at the wrong time. 

"He is a faggot!" Alec, of course, called out. 

"So that means that Ashton's also a faggot then," Ricky said. His gaze settled back on Luke, his arms crossed. "You know what we do to faggots, don't you?"

Luke gulped, literally shaking as he thought about what was going to happen to him within the matter of seconds. Ricky and the rest of his friends were inching towards Luke, looking just like it did in movies that Luke has seen. He backed up, knowing that eventually, it wasn't going to do any good. Before he knew it, one of the minions was behind him and Ricky was shoving him. 

Instead of falling into whoever it was that had entrapped him, Luke was on the floor and Ricky and friends were kicking him. He felt like he was about to throw up his organs or like he was going to be split open from his belly button. At about the tenth kick, which was super powerful, he began to cough and he thought he saw blood in a puddle beneath him, but he wasn't for sure. He wasn't totally with it at the moment. 

"S-stop," he choked out, earning a foot to the face and he was sure that his nose was broken from it. 

"Little gay boy wants us to stop. Should we?" Ricky asked his crew, which laughed and Luke figured that the beating wouldn't end anytime soon. 

After a few more blows to the stomach, face, balls, and back, the beating stopped. Luke had literally thought he had died, at least, until he opened his eyes as much as he could to see Ricky squatting down next to him with an evil smirk on his face. 

"As much as I'd love to continue our little run-in here, we also don't want to be late for class. So, we'll have to pick this up another time," Ricky said in the most fake caring voice Luke had ever heard. Ricky roughly messed up Luke's hair, being sure to slam his head down when he was finished. "And bring your boy toy with you, yeah? We need to...tie up a few loose ends with Ash."

With that said, the group of boys walked off, leaving Luke lying in a pained and bloody mess in the middle of the empty hallway. As much as he wanted to move and pick up his things like nothing happened, he knew that it was impossible. There was no way that he was going to be able to move without help because he was now too weak. 

"Oh my God! Are you okay?!"

\----

Ashton was looking around the lunchroom for Luke, wondering where on Earth the kid could be. Granted, Ashton did get there rather earlier than he normally did, but that was because he was just so excited to be with Luke again. He shrugged and put his spoon in the lumpy and disgusting applesauce, figuring that Luke had stayed after class to socialize with the teacher about something. 

A tray of food was placed rather hardly against the table and a crabby Michael sat down next to Ashton, followed by Calum. As nonchalantly as he could, Ashton looked around to see if Luke was following them or was even in the lunch line, but there was no sign of the beloved blonde anywhere. 

"Hi, Michael," Ashton greeted with a smile. "Hi, Calum."

"Why the hell are you so happy?" Michael asked, a sense of prissiness in his tone. 

"Because I'm in a good mood? I mean, I know it's a Monday and that's rather weird for me, but I am in a pretty upbeat mood," he explained to him. "Why are you such a bear?" 

Michael looked to Calum and then back at Ashton. "I'm guessing you haven't heard about Luke then."

"No. He hasn't answered any of my texts. Do either of you know where he is?" Ashton wondered. 

"He's at home because of you," Michael spat angrily.

"W-What do you mean?" the wavy haired boy wondered, seeing the fire ignite in Michael's pupils. 

"I mean that my best friend is sitting in a bed at the hospital with ice and broken bones because of your shitty posse," Michael scolded. He saw that Ashton was still playing the confused card and then rolled his eyes, continuing on. "This morning, they beat him and left him lying in the middle of the science wing hallway, all by himself. Jennifer Everdeen found him and brought him to the nurse."

"Mich-" Ashton started, but Michael cut him off.

"I saw you two this morning. The only person who could've known that he was going over there was you. _You_ told them," Michael spat. "I thought you had feelings for him, Ashton. I thought you were different than them. I didn't think that you would intentionally and literally hurt him like that."

"Michael, I-" he tried again.

"Save it, Irwin," Michael spat, getting up from the table and storming off, leaving Ashton and Calum alone. 

Ashton looked at Calum with wide eyes, hoping that the glasses-clad boy didn't believe a word that Michael had said. "Cal, you know that I wouldn't do that, right?" 

Calum nodded. "I know. I tried to tell him when he first came to me with it, but it wasn't any use. He's too angry. Give him a little time to relax. He just wants someone to place the blame on and take out his anger. Luke's like his brother; you can't blame him for being pissed."

"I know," Ashton sighed. 

His good mood was basically gone. It was replaced with hurt and fury. 

\----


	30. Chapter 30

Instead of going to the next class, Ashton decided to skip the rest of the day to go visit Luke at the hospital. Calum had told him that he would still be there since he wouldn't be released until they got tests and x-rays back. He snuck out of the side door that everyone that was authority forgot about and ran out to his car. 

He was angry that Michael had yelled at him like that. It wasn't his fault that they beat Luke up. For starters, he would never do something like that to hurt Luke. But it infuriated him even more that they did that to Luke, just because they weren't friends with Ashton anymore. They were taking it out on an innocent guy that was nothing but nice to them. If anyone should be where Luke is, it should be Ashton. Luke didn't deserve to have potentially broken limbs. 

The hospital parking lot was rather full, but Ashton found a spot close to the entrance. He hurried into the building, disregarding any greetings by the receptionists of the different wards that he passed and dodging people and nurses and doctors as he basically ran back to the ICU.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked, raising a brow at the panting boy leaning on the desk in front of her. "The emergency room is that way if that's what you're looking for."

"I'm looking for Luke Hemmings. He was checked in here this morning because he got beaten at school," Ashton told her. "Please tell me that he's allowed to have visitors. I really need to see him."

She giggled a little at the last statement. "Yes, he can have visitors. He isn't dying or anything too serious. Room 273."

Ashton patted the counter and quickly walked down the hallway, looking at each sign outside of the rooms until he came to 273 at the end of the hall. Ashton's pace slowed and the door was cracked open just enough for Ashton to hear the telly going. He pushed the door open slowly, scared that he would wake Luke if he was asleep. 

As he stepped into the hospital room, he looked over at the boy on the bed. Luke was laying with his head cocked to the left, his mouth open slightly, and the remote in his hand as he slept. Ashton just looked at the boy, barely recognizing him because of the dark purple ring around his eye, cuts scattered around, and his left arm across his stomach in a navy blue sling.

Ashton started to quietly step towards the chair that was next to Luke's bed, but before he could get there, Luke's eyes pried open. 

"Ash? What're you doing here?" Luke slurred tiredly, moving his head so it was straight on the pillow again. "Did you skip school?"

Before he could answer, Ashton ran over to Luke and wrapped his arms around the injured blonde, gently hugging him. "Are you okay? You're not too hurt, are you? I'm so sorry this happened."

Luke put down the remote and patted Ashton's back softly as he chuckled at how concerned Ashton was. He was acting like Luke was on death's doorstep when he really wasn't. "Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. And I'm fine, I guess. It's just an ache, but I imagine that's from the medicine they doped me up on. I suppose that I'm the talk of the school now."

"Actually, I didn't know until Michael started yelling and blaming me for it, so I guess I haven't paid any attention to whether or not you are," Ashton admitted, looking up into his boyfriend's blue eyes. 

"Michael blamed you?" Luke asked, taken aback just slightly. "Why would he think you had anything to do with it? You don't even talk to them anymore."

"Well, I used to and I was the only one who knew that you were going over there, so he thought that I told them that's where you were going. He thought that I knew all about them beating you when I knew nothing at all," Ashton explained, feeling a little pissed off that Michael would even think to blame him like that. It wasn't fair. 

"You know that Michael is just pissed, right? I'm pretty sure he knows that you didn't have any part in it," Luke told him. "I'm his best friend. He's defensive over me and he's just throwing around names of people to blame. Calum probably got blamed for it as well, but then he just moved onto you. He'll cool down, okay?"

Ashton nodded, hoping that Luke was right. It was at that point that Ashton realized how incredibly uncomfortable he was. He got off of Luke and hurried over to the chair next to Luke's bedside. Luke just looked at him, his cut eyebrow raised just a little bit. "You could've stayed where you were."

"And break my spine? As much as I love you, Luke, I don't want to be in pain," he said with a smile, but then realized the three of the words that dripped out of his mouth.

"Wait, you what?" Luke asked. 

"What? All I said was that I don't want to be in pain. That's all," Ashton lied, feeling himself break into a sweat. 

"Oh, okay."

\----

Luke had said that he wanted a caramel frappe from Starbuck's, so as his loyal potential boyfriend that had already said 'I love you' and then lied about it, Ashton went on his way to Starbucks. But he was going to make a pit stop at Michael's home first, hoping that he calmed down. 

He was hoping that the boy wouldn't go ape shit on him and start yelling at him and blaming him like he had done in the cafeteria. Ashton wasn't a huge fan of being yelled at. As he rang Michael's doorbell, he mentally prepared himself for insults. 

The door swung open and he was greeted with Michael with his phone pressed to his ear. Instead of getting shooed away, Michael waved him in and then gave whoever was on the other end of the phone his contact information. Ashton was guessing that it was the pizza guy. 

"What do you want?" Michael asked when he was apparently off the phone. 

"Well, I was on my way to pick up some Starbucks for Luke and decided that I would stop here and have a little chat with you. That is, if you aren't going to scream at me and blame me for something that I didn't have any part in," Ashton said flatly. 

Michael collapsed into the chair next to the couch, his hand going to his forehead as he looked down. He looked back up at Ashton and sighed. "Listen, I know I was a jackass earlier. I took out my anger on you and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blame you, but I was just so angry. I know that you had nothing to do with it and I know that you aren't even friends with Ricky anymore, so why you'd even talk to them again voluntarily is beyond me. Plus, I know that you would never intentionally hurt Luke. I've seen the way you two treat and look at each other. You're not going to hurt each other like that."

Ashton nodded his head, taking in what Michael had said to him. "Well, thank you for apologizing. I forgive you and I'm happy that you realized what an ass you were."

Michael nodded, looking down at his feet again. "You visited Luke already?"

"After lunch, I skipped the rest of the day and I've been at the hospital ever since," Ashton said. 

"Is he okay?" he wondered.

"Yeah, just in a little pain. It would be worse, but he's doped up on pain medication, so it's dulling it," Ashton explained. 

The two were awkwardly quiet for a minute, not sure of what to say since Michael was ashamed of how he acted and Ashton just didn't know what to say. He figured that he should continue onto Starbucks, but before he could, Michael spoke up. 

"Do you want to eat some pizza with me? I mean, I don't normally share my own pizza, but consider it as a peace offering," Michael offered. 

Ashton's eyes widened, surprised at what he was offering. It wouldn't be a big deal if it were someone else, but Michael offering to share his pizza? That was as monumental as a nun getting married. "Wow. I would love to, but can take a raincheck? I have to get Luke his Starbucks before he starts questioning whether or not I died."

"Okay. The offer is valid for exactly one week," Michael smirked. 

"See you tomorrow then. Better have a Hawaiian pizza ready for when I get here," Ashton answered, getting up from the leather couch. 

"Consider it a date."

\----

Luke was watching the marathon of SpongeBob, waiting for it to be over. It was boring to only have the option to watch one show and it was grueling that he had to live without Netflix. He was hoping that Ashton would hurry up and get back with his caramel frappe. It was literally the only other highlight of being trapped in this jail cell, the first one being that Ashton was there. 

His eyes fluttered shut when his door clicked open, revealing a smiling Ashton holding a drink carrier with two frappes in it. Luke smiled, happy the light of the room was back. "Hey. I thought you ran away."

"Why would I run away from you?" Ashton chuckled, bringing the drink carrier over to him. 

Luke took the frappe out and put his mouth around the straw, savoring the flavor of the cold caramel drink. He looked up at Ashton. "Because this place is the equivalent of Hell."

Ashton shrugged in agreement. "You do have a point there. But I wouldn't let you suffer in Hell alone."

Ashton was about to go back over and sit in the chair, but Luke scooted himself over on the bed in hopes to make more room. "No, Ash. Lay by me."

"Are you kidding? There's not enough room for the both of us. Plus, won't we get yelled at or something?" Ashton said, looking at the hospital bed that was rather small for two people. 

"Well, who cares? I'll just say I wanted to cuddle with someone," Luke smirked. 

Ashton crawled into the hospital bed with Luke and they tried to make it as comfortable as possible. It was a somewhat cute sight, if you could get over the fact that they looked extremely uncomfortable. They laid silently together, slurping up their frappes as they watched SpongeBob and Patrick on the telly. Neither Luke or Ashton necessarily wanted to watch it, but they knew that was the only thing that was the least bit tolerable on. 

"Who was Christa?" Ashton asked randomly, making Luke nearly spit out what was in his mouth.

"What?" he asked, his voice squeaking. 

"Who's Christa?" he repeated. 

"She, um, she was an old friend of mine from a long time ago," Luke said generically.

"Tell me about her," Ashton pressed. He looked up at Luke. "Michael told me that you had a crush on her."

"I did, but then I didn't because I pushed her away," Luke said. "Basically, Michael, Christa, and I used to be best friends. I developed a crush on her and she developed a crush on someone else...which was Alec. I've hated him ever since, kind of like I did with Calum. We ended up getting in a huge fight and I basically pushed her away. Now she lives somewhere else and I haven't talked to her since."

Ashton sat there, feeling a bit bad for Luke. Christa had been his best friend and then she up and moved before he had the chance to apologize. "You should talk to her."

"And how do you suggest I do that?" Luke chuckled, thinking that Ashton was joking.

"Are you friends with her on Facebook?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah, I think I am," Luke answered. "Why do you want me to talk to her?" 

"Because you lost your best friend over something that was, no offense, stupid and petty. Who knows, maybe you'll go back to being friends or maybe you won't even like each other," Ashton told him. "Plus I want to see this bitch."

"She's not a bitch," Luke chuckled. "Maybe I'll message her later." 

\----

Sure enough, later came and Luke was thinking about messaging Christa. Ashton had left about an hour before and Luke had become lonely. He would've messaged her while he was there, but he didn't want Ashton begging to hear what she was saying. He figured he'd give him all the dirty details tomorrow. 

Luke grabbed his phone from the table, clicking on the Facebook Messenger app that he barely ever used. He typed in Christa's name, seeing it narrow down to her being the only choice. According to the small icon, she no longer had dirty blonde hair, but it was dyed red. Before going to her profile, Luke typed in 'hi', hoping that she wouldn't find him creepy or hate him. 

Then Luke went to her profile, seeing that her profile was like it was picked out of Tumblr. He clicked on her pictures, seeing that she wasn't at all the same Christa that he knew. Her hair was bright red, she was the next thing to a professional makeup artist, she had a nose piercing and oodles of jewelry. She was not the dirty blonde, plain, mostly makeup-less Christa that Luke grew up with. She was completely different from the girl next door. 

To interrupt his stalking, his phone dinged and his conversation with her popped up.

**Christa Michelle:** Hey Luke :) Long time no chat. 

**Luke Hemmings:** Yeah, a really long time judging by your profile picture. Your not blonde anymore!

**Christa Michelle:** *you're and no I'm not haha I got sick of all the guys at my school treating me like a piece of meat, so I changed myself into something they wouldn't want and something that I would feel more comfortable in. :) 

**Luke Hemmings:** Wow. Still the same stubborn Christa. :) You look beautiful though.

**Christa Michelle:** Thanks ^.^ Enough about me though. What brings you to my chat?

**Luke Hemmings:** My boyfriend actually. He told me that I should message you and resolve any problems between us......that sounded stupid af. 

**Christa Michelle:** No! It didn't! I actually agree! But you have a boyfriend? 

Luke and Christa kept chatting throughout the night, despite her having school in the morning. They were back on good terms and it was nice to just get reacquainted with each other. It was as if they hadn't spent years away from each other after they got caught up. She still had the same humor, same sarcasm...the only thing that was different was that her looks changed and that she grew up a little bit.

Other than being shoved into a Netflix-less hospital room, Luke's life was going pretty good. He had a boy that was basically his boyfriend, he made friends with Calum and made up with Michael, and he had gotten one of the people that had meant the most to him back in his life. It was truly great.

\----


	31. Epilogue

Ashton walked into Luke's hospital room the next morning to see that he was on his phone, smiling and chuckling to himself as he texted someone. Ashton looked at the boy, slightly confused as to who was making him act like this since he's thought that he was the only one to make Luke all blushy. But he didn't bother thinking into it and lightly knocked on the door.

Luke looked up and his eyes widened when seeing the Starbucks drink carrier in Ashton's hand. "What are you doing here?! I thought you'd be in school! And you brought me Starbucks!" 

"Of course. Hospital coffee is like tar," Ashton chuckled, looking at how enthusiastic Luke got over the coffee. He went over and set Luke's drink on the table next to him as the blonde boy flew across the bottom half of his phone. "I hope your not texting my replacement."

"You're irreplaceable, Ash," Luke smiled sweetly, causing Ashton's joking smirk to turn into a wide smile. "I'm talking to Christa. She told me that Alec turned into a douche when he brought her to meet Ricky. Were you ever introduced to her?"

"I don't think so. I was never too close with Alec, but maybe he brought her around when we all hung out together. Can I see a picture of her?" Ashton wondered, curious as to what this girl looked like. She had to be beautiful in order for Luke to have had a crush on her. 

"Yeah, hold on," Luke said and then went back onto his phone for a few minutes. When he found it, he turned the phone towards Ashton, who was faced with what looked to be a thirteen year old girl with long dirty blonde hair. Ashton remembered seeing her before, but he couldn't recall ever talking to her. But if this was what she looked like now, the girl must be fucking immortal. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah, I remember seeing her. I've never talked to her though," Ashton said. 

"I told her about you if that's okay. I don't think she remembers you either," Luke told him.

"Go ahead and brag me up. I'm obviously something to brag about," Ashton smirked, acting all important. 

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the size of your ego."

Ashton and Luke looked up to see who had said that and saw Michael standing in the doorway. Luke's face lit up like the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York. Ashton loved to see Luke happy like this, and it was always when he was with Michael. They were best friends and Ashton envied the relationship, but mostly loved how strong of a bond the two had. Ashton never had a true experience like that and he wanted one. Sure, he was pretty tight with Michael, Luke, and Calum, but it wasn't like Michael and Luke were. They had been best friends ever since they left their mothers' wombs. The only people he thought he had something that was close (but not very) was with James and Ricky. James is off at Uni and Ashton doesn't talk to him as much as he did when they were younger, and Ricky's a jackass that put the love of Ashton's life in a damn hospital. 

"I have some news," Michael said, pulling Ashton out of his thoughts. Luke and Ashton leaned closer to encourage him to go on. "Ricky is having another party on Friday and none of us were invited."

"Are we supposed to be happy about this or...?" Luke asked, not finding the point in what Michael was saying.

"Well, I think what young Michael is trying to say is we crash the party," Ashton smirked, earning a look of approval from Michael. 

"No, I refuse. Just because I'm going home today doesn't mean that I'm going to be crashing a God damn party that I don't even want to go to," Luke refused. "Especially if they're going to beat me into oblivion again."

"Aw, come on, Luke. It will just be to piss them off. Plus, Ashton, Calum, and I won't let anything bad happen to you," Michael said.

"Hell, if it made you feel better, you could even invite Christa and she could tell Alec off," Ashton suggested. 

"Christa? Are you talking to Christa again?" Michael asked Luke, who nodded. "Fuck it, invite her too. She'd be down for that if she's anything like the Christa I know."

"Guys, n-"

"Please, Lukey? I'll continue to buy your caramel frappes from Starbucks even though you'll be out of the hospital," Ashton begged, batting his eyes. 

"Fine," Luke sighed. Michael and Ashton knew that Luke hated parties, but at the same time, he didn't have to be a fan of them in order to crash it. "Sometimes, I hate you guys."

Ashton started thinking, wanting to do something big to crash the party. He didn't want them to just show up and make an appearance in order to just piss them off and have Ricky send his army of kindergartners after them to kick them out. After what they did to Luke, Ashton wanted Ricky's party to be absolutely ruined. He didn't want to trash it because you can't really trash a party that's already filled with the trash of the school. And then he got an idea that would make Ricky's party their bitch.

"Luke, I know that this is probably a dumb thing to ask and you probably aren't going to be for it, but do you want to publicly embarrass Ricky and friends along with coming out to the school to make his party our bitch?" Ashton rambled off really fast. 

"Wait, what? You want us to come out to the school? Ashton, we're not even together. Do you really think that's a good idea?" Luke asked.

Ashton stayed quiet. He wanted it to be official, he wanted Luke to let it be official. They were both so happy with each other, why couldn't they just put the label on it so they could do coupley things whenever they wanted? 

"I mean, we never really established what we were," Ashton muttered, even though nobody heard him. 

So instead of Luke answering Ashton, he and Michael went off talking about something not having to do with Ricky's party or crashing it. Meanwhile, Ashton just sat, feeling kind of hurt with what Luke said, but at the same time, he knew that it was still a bit soon to be anything more than whatever the hell they were. They hadn't even went out on a proper date yet. How could Ashton expect to be his boyfriend already? And he had already told Luke that he loved him. Granted, it slipped out and Luke didn't really catch it, but how could Ashton be in love with someone that wasn't even his boyfriend? Especially this quick. You had to be official and with each other for a long time before you say that to someone. Don't you?

"Ash?" Michael asked, poking his knee and also pulling Ashton from his thoughts. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just a bit tired," Ashton responded. 

"Do you think I should invite Christa to the stupid party?" Luke asked. 

"Yeah. I want to know who this girl was that had you head over heels," Ashton smirked. He actually did want to meet this girl. He wanted to know what qualities he needed to get to make Luke want him to be his boyfriend. 

"Alright, I'll quickly message her."

\----

**-3 Days Later [Friday]-**

They were all going to meet at Ashton's house, including Christa, who Michael was picking up. Luke, Ashton, and Calum were sitting in the living room, watching one of the Jackass movies. Luke didn't understand Ashton and Calum's enjoyment for this. It made Luke cringe more than he ever did in his life. Hell, he didn't even think that Calum was about the Jackass life. He didn't hit Luke as that type, but apparently, everything is not what it seems. 

Luke heard a car outside of Ashton's house and he was hoping that it was Michael instead of one of Ashton's many relatives, even though James was supposed to be going to Ricky's party as well and was fully aware of their party crashing plan. Unlike Ashton, Calum, Luke, Michael, and Christa, James was actually invited to Ricky's party because apparently, Ricky still thought of James as gold and most likely thought that he could manipulate him into thinking that Ashton was a piece of shit like everyone else in the school probably did. 

Luke felt bad for Ashton. He went from the top of the food chain all the way down to the bottom within a matter of two months. His own friends decided to desert him just because Ashton was going through something personal that Ashton would've never dared tell them when they were friends because it would've been social suicide, even though it wouldn't have mattered since they basically committed social homicide with him. But Luke thought that Ashton was pretty happy with where he was at now. He sure as hell acted like it. He thought it was because Ashton finally had friends and Luke who actually cared about him and his well being. Whereas Ricky & Co. couldn't give two shits unless it concerned them. To be honest, Luke thought that they were worse than teenage girls who got in similar situations. 

There was a knock on the door and got off of Luke, going to the door. When it was opened, Luke looked over the back of the couch to see that it was only Michael at the door. Cocking his eyebrow, Luke got up from the couch and joined Ashton at the door.

"Where's Christa?" Luke asked.

"Her purse spilled on the way here and she's cleaning it up. I didn't know there was that many shades of red lipstick," Michael said. 

Luke looked out to the car, getting a weird butterfly effect in his stomach. He was about to be confronted with his old best friend - and crush - that he hadn't spoke to in person for years. He was nervous of if she had changed and what she had become. He didn't want her to think that he was a loser, either. Even if that was the truth. 

"Christa, holy Jesus, Christmas is going to be here before you get done!" Michael yelled out to the car. He turned back to Luke, seeing that he was nervous. "Don't worry, Luke. She's still the same old Christa. Just a little different in the whole looks area. And maybe a bit more grown up than when you last talked to each other."

"You don't have to be such a bitch, Michael. God," Christa answered, stepping up out of the car. 

She turned toward the three boys, stunning all of them (even if Michael had already seen her). Her long crimped red-dyed hair was now straightened and fringed to the right and slightly more faded than her profile picture on Facebook. She was wearing an Ariel tank and a pair of dark blue ripped skinnies along with a pair of black Converse. As she got closer, her makeup was basically professional and her nose piercing glistening against her skin. 

"Oh my God, Luke. You have changed completely since the last time I saw you. Damn, you actually got sexy, no offense," Christa said once she reached the three boys. Luke could see that she was wearing a pair of green colored contacts over her originally brown eyes. 

"Hey, he's still pretty damn sexy," Ashton piped up.

"And I'm guessing that you're the potential bae for my Lukey," Christa said to Ashton. "I'm Christa Michelle Jackson. Lovely to meet you."

Ashton took Christa's perfectly manicured hand, her black nails standing out against her pale skin. "I'm Ashton. Nice to meet you too." 

"I don't mean to be pushy, but isn't there one more person I need to acquaint with before we embark on our party crashing adventure?" Christa asked the three boys.

Luke moved out of the doorway and Christa walked in. "He's on the couch watching Jackass. His name is Calum."

Christa bounded into the living room and introduced herself to Calum, who's jaw nearly dropped when seeing her. Ashton turned to Luke, who just smiled at him. 

"I thought she was blonde and basically ageless!" he whisper-shouted at him. 

"Wait, you thought that picture I showed you was current? Oh, no. That was her from when she moved away or maybe a little after. She, um, doesn't have that girl-next-door look much anymore," Luke explained.

"Well, no shit," Ashton chuckled. 

\----

They had finally got to Ricky's party, or well, the start of the woods behind his house. It had taken them at least an hour to find how to get to the woods, but they finally did. The ride there was extremely different and a hell of a lot more interesting than previous ones. They did quite a bit of singing, thanks to Christa. 

As they got out of the vehicle and started towards the entrance of the woods, Christa had said she was cold and Calum oh-so graciously gave her his coat. Luke and Ashton just laughed at how obvious it was that he liked her. It was cute though. 

Luke and Ashton walked hand-in-hand at the back of the pack, which made both boys feel warm and fuzzy inside. Ashton couldn't believe that he was about to crash a party that he should've been invited to. It was funny how everything changes because he was caught talking to someone. It was also funny how much he had changed because once upon a time, Ashton used to care about social status just as much as Ricky did. He wouldn't have been caught dead with the people he's hanging around now. And now he's happy. He realized that with Sierra, he wasn't truly happy like he was with Luke, even if the two weren't officially together. They both actually genuinely liked each other and Ashton never felt that with Sierra. 

"Whatchya thinking about?" Luke asked.

"Just how funny life is," Ashton answered, summing up his thoughts with the five word sentence.

"What do you mean?" he wondered. 

"I never thought that I would have to crash into one of Ricky's parties. I never thought that I would never not be friends with them or be popular. I never thought that I'd be friends with these people. And I never thought that I would actually be guilty of having a crush on you," Ashton said, his cheeks tinting pink. 

Luke just smiled. "I think that your life changed for the better if I'm honest. Those people weren't your friends. Sierra was probably just dating you to date you since she's now with Jack. They were fakes. You're not like that now. You're real and you act like yourself and I like that about you. All of us do."

Ashton smiled, blushing even more than he already was. It was reasons like this that Ashton had a crush on Luke or that he supposedly loved Luke. He made him feel special and all mushy. He's never had that before and it was the greatest feeling that he could've asked for. 

Before Ashton could say something else, Luke leaned over and pecked Ashton's cheek, squeezing his hand when he was done. It was a sweet gesture and it was something that Ashton had been wanting for the past however long. Luke may not have declared them as a couple, but a kiss on the cheek was enough to tie Ashton over for a little while.

"Would you two lovebirds stop before I puke?" Michael said, faking a gag. 

"Michael Gordon! Stop it! It's adorable," Christa said, slapping him across the arm. 

"You're just jealous," Calum agreed, of course. 

"Really, Calum? I'm disappointed in you," Michael joked. "Anyhoo, which way to the house? I'm directionally challenged."

Calum rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, pulling up Google Maps and typing in Ricky's address from Christa's phone. He pulled up the directions from their location and it said that they needed to go to the right and they would be there. 

"That's the power of technology, motherfuckers," Calum said confidently. 

"Don't fucking swear," Christa said. 

"Hey, I like her," Ashton smirked, nudging Luke, who just rolled his eyes and chuckled. 

The group continued walking through the dark woods until they finally stepped foot onto the freshly and professionally manicured lawn. There were strobe lights flashing as usual and the bass of the club music was pounding, making them feel it all the way at the back of the lawn. They all looked at each other and began walking up the big yard. 

Ashton took out his phone and texted James, saying that they were there so the rumors of them being there were going to fly when they actually got to people. Speaking of, they started walking around the pool deck, Luke and Ashton no longer holding hands for obvious reasons. There were a few of the stragglers - or the people that thought snogging while they were drunk around a lighted pool was romantic - that gave them a few glances, but didn't really give a shit and went back to sucking their significant other's face. 

The moment that really gave all five of them confidence and a moment of empowerment was when they opened the glass French doors that led into the packed and strobe lit living room of the house. The people that passed by them and noticed that it was them gave them odd looks, some of disapproval and some of obvious approval. 

They went to the staircase, Luke and Ashton and Michael standing on the stairs while Calum and Christa danced a little bit a few feet away from them. They were hoping that they got noticed and Ashton was hoping that James would text him soon. James was hanging around Ricky, so he was going to text Ashton when Ricky heard that they were there. That's when they would make their appearance. 

After about ten minutes, Ashton's phone finally vibrated. He took it out seeing that it was James saying that Ricky knew and Ricky was going to 'tear shit up'. Ashton shoved his phone back into his pocket, telling Michael and Luke that Ricky knew. Ashton grabbed Christa and Calum, telling them that it was go time. 

They all went onto the stairs and within seconds, Ricky was storming out of the kitchen with Alec, Seth, and Jack in tow. Ashton noticed that James stuck back by the door, watching as the group of assholes looked around the party. Ashton just smirked when Seth had finally spotted them and hit Ricky's arm. Ricky glared at Ashton, storming over. The five on the stairs stepped down into the cleared path that Ricky had caused and Ashton crossed his arms with an vengeful smirk on his face. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Ricky snapped. Ashton noticed that the volume of the music went down significantly so everyone could here what was about to go down. Ah, teenagers. 

"Oh, just living the life. Going party to party with my hardy crew. And honestly, I think this is the most shittiest one we've been to tonight," Ashton insulted with a "nice" voice. "Isn't that right, guys?" 

"I agree. Plus there's a really shitty guy in my sight right now that's making me want to vomit," Christa said, stepping closer to Ashton, her arms crossed and her hop jutted out. "That would be you I'm talking about, Alec."

Alec looked at her confused and then his eyes widened as he checked out Christa. "Christa?" 

"In the flesh," Christa said, curtsying. Alec's jaw drop in approval of the girl standing before him. She had gotten hot. She was hot before, but she was smoking now. But Christa wasn't having it. She rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that shit, Alec. I'm not interested in a fake, self-absorbed asshole such as you. Especially when you hurt one of my best friends. Twice."

"Twice? I only beat him the one time," Alec admitted. 

"Really? You don't remember those years that you were crushing on me? And how every time I'd bring your no good ass around these two, you'd do your very best to rub it into Luke's face that I liked you? God damn, I don't know what the hell I was on to even look at you," she spat. "You're an asshole, Alec. And I realized that shit a little too late. I'm glad every other girl did though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, stepping in front of Ricky and towards her. 

"You wonder why you've been rejected and single all these years after me? It's because I told them how you really were. I ruined your ass," she hissed, only inches separating their faces. She was a few inches shorter than him, but if Ashton were Alec, he'd be scared to death. 

"Really? You decided to bring the whole crew of retards with you? Ashton, you've hit a new low. You're friends with two emo freaks, a nerd that doesn't know how to speak human, and a faggot. I actually had hope for you, Ash," Ricky spat. 

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be wasting my precious time here if you wouldn't have decided to go ape shit on Luke for no reason," Ashton responded.

Ricky laughed and crossed his arms. "What, are you a faggot too? Doesn't surprise me since that what you choose to hang around with."

"Oh, really? At least they actually give two shits about me. I bet if you were in trouble, these fuckholes wouldn't give a shit enough to help you unless they got something out of it," Ashton remarked. "I mean, that's the only reason their friends with you. You give them shit. Why would anyone in their right mind leave someone like that, no matter how big of an ass face they are?"

"Yeah, well, it's better than being a loser faggot," Ricky said with a smirk. "Why would you come here to stand up for this faggot if you say you don't have feelings for him? That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard, you fag-"

Before Ricky could even finish the sentence, Ashton's fist connected with his jaw, knocking Ricky to the ground. 

"So, how does it feel to be punched by a faggot?" Ashton asked, smirking above Ricky, who's nose was beginning to gush blood. 

As Ashton went to turn around and tell everyone that they could get the hell out, his lips collided with someone else's. Ashton opened one of his eyes to see that it was Luke. He gradually started to kiss back, putting both of his hands on Luke's biceps to hold the both of them up. 

Luke pulled back, panting and smiling. "Is now a good time to ask you to be my boyfriend?"

"Yes, a million times, yes."

\----


End file.
